RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE
LGNZ EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Who pays? p26
All the finalists p34
LGNZ'S DUNEDIN CONFERENCE
THE BLUE & THE GREEN
Full report p30
Foreshore protection p42
NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE VOL 53 • SEPTEMBER 2016 • $8.95
CHAIN REACTIONS Mayoral candidates share their views p14
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We’re not just in print Read past issues at issuu.com/contrafed Q&A
LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS
So what kinds of skills, attributes and attitudes do elected members need to best handle these issues? We need a more diverse set of skills than may have been in the past. People who would have perhaps considered standing in the past may have had an interest in an issue with their local road which they considered important or a really important issue with what the community does with its water supply. Or they may have said the rates burden was too high. But, as well as that, I think we now need a forward-thinking group of people who understand there are some big, really complex and difficult issues to deal with outside of those basics. For many people that would be an exciting place for them to be: to say, “well, what are we going to do about climate change or demographic change? How are we going to help our people here?”
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TIME FOR A SEA CHANGE? PRIVACY
ELECTIONS 2016
PIGGY in the > MIDDLE OPEN What kind of leaders does local government need? As the sector gears up for its triennial elections in October, Ruth Le Pla asks LGNZ president Lawrence Yule whether it’s time for a whole new type of thinking.
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cross the country 1646 elected members are currently serving their communities. They’re mayors, councillors and community board members. Yet, typically, between 33 and 40 percent of elected members change each election – whether voluntarily or involuntarily. What types of thinking would bring the most benefit to the sector as a whole?
LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE: What are the big issues coming up in the next three years and what does this mean for both new and existing members? LAWRENCE YULE: Some of the issues we have to deal with are changing and so too is some of the leadership that’s required to deal with them. From 2002 to 2012, councils have largely got on top of asset and financial
>
To be clear, you’re saying people need to care about these issues as well as about all the things they’ve cared about in the past: the state of a local road or the need for a new swimming pool, for instance? Absolutely.
Lawrence Yule: There are some really complex issues to deal with.
management. Generally that’s been the focus of effort and that was specifically spelt out in the Local Government Act 2002. But now new issues are emerging which effectively mean it should be a given that those things are done. The levels of leadership that will be required will be around climate change, demographic change and increasingly – this involves demographic change – around the economic development and sustainability of our communities. Our thinking time should be on those complex but really important other issues.
Would you also tie in to that some of the 3Waters and infrastructure issues? Absolutely. These are things that LGNZ has been signalling for a while. Correct. They are the big issues for are the caught between demands to Councils future. So the 3Waters work completely make their online databases and building ties in with infrastructure. What we’re records and the need to safeguard doing with risk management tiespublic in with natural hazards, the it tiesprivacy in with of individuals. Octavia Palmer financial capacity from and the long-term Office of the Privacy Commissioner sustainability. So they’re all in the mix. explains some of the ground rules. Leadership is changing into a much bigger space.
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nline propertyAPRIL and building records are a blessing 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE l 25 to property developers, homeowners and potential buyers who no longer have to book appointments at council offices and hunt through stacks of paper to find the information they need. Online property and building records also make responding to information requests more efficient for councils by reducing transaction costs and improving timeliness of responses. Yet the potential social and economic value of online property and building records can only be fully realised if the systems that manage these records are designed and implemented in a way that protects individual privacy. Some of the privacy risks of making records available online include: • confidential information, such as the name and contact details of informants or domestic violence victims, being made public; • bots extracting entire databases of information for marketing, scams or other purposes unrelated to property ownership; and • building plans and specifications of public figures becoming available to criminals. This creates tension for local councils. On one hand, there are a number of statutory requirements to collect information and make it available. On the other hand, there are statutory mandates and community expectations that councils will protect individual privacy. There is no one single way to manage this tension. Rather, councils need to consider and manage privacy risk in a way that is specific to their systems, processes and community values.
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INFORMATION OR PRIVACY?
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
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LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS A number of statutes require councils to both collect information and provide information to the public (see chart “What covers what”).
A DIGITAL FUTURE
Statutes that specify types of property and building information councils must collect include: • Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 • Building Act 2004 • Resource Management Act 1991 • Fencing Act 1978 • Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987 • Health Act 1956.
FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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SOUND BITES FROM ALGIM’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE
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Paul Davidson
LESSONS FROM AUSTERITY Tough times in the UK local government sector have been hard on councils, but austerity also brings innovation. So says Paul Davidson, CIO of Sedgemoor District Council in the UK, whose organisation has seen staff numbers shaved from around 600 about four years ago to today’s headcount of just under 350. Paul, who is also director of standards for the UK’s Local eGovernment Standards Body (LeGSB), says austerity “makes you think two,
FREE ASSESSMENT TOOL Digital Journey GM Stuart Dillon-Roberts urges councils to take tiny incremental steps, rather than attempting huge strides, as they transform themselves into eCouncils. “Small changes can bring big benefits to digital communication and operations,” he says. Eight out of 10 Kiwis now have a tablet or smartphone, he notes. “The phone is becoming the device of choice for finding information but how many councils are using mobile-friendly comms now?”
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three or four times” about services provided and how worthwhile they are. “If you’re awash with money you can be inefficient, provide services that aren’t really tailored to people, and dribble on as you always have done.” Most councils, he says have already cut out unnecessary services. Then they’ve done the top slice – telling their managers to cut everything by, say, 10 percent. “That’s easy to do but it just drives out some of the contingency funds.” Local authorities are now turning to technology to gain greater efficiencies and speed up processes. One council, for example, is now crosschecking specific data with the Department for Work and Pensions to see if an individual is eligible for a council-administered disability parking badge. Attribute exchange between the two organisations means a council can check eligibility fast and accurately without delving into the individual’s specific medical or financial history. “This digital approach means we can approve
about 40 percent of cases in a heartbeat,” Paul says. He says local government must bridge the gap between technologists who can see what’s possible and the policymakers who know in which direction they wish to travel. There is currently a gap in terms of the language used and the airtime that each party gets within council. “The non-technological leaders of councils need to ‘get’ the implications of new technologies, embrace them and challenge them further,” he says. “And as technology people in councils, we’ve got to realise that just us understanding technology isn’t good enough now. We have to ensure that the wider organisation gets it.” Paul says the strategic role of CIO is still relatively new in a lot of councils in the UK. “That’s about recognising that information itself is an asset. It’s the lifeblood that enables us to provide our services, understand the wellbeing of our communities, and work with partner organisations. If we can structure and
He challenges council officers to appreciate that digital disruption is not something that will happen in the future. “It’s already here now,” he says citing Uber in the taxi business, Netflix in the movie sector and Alibaba’s provision of retail items despite having no fixed inventory. Mobile phones will continue to disrupt how people and organisations interact, he says. Digital Journey partnered with ALGIM last year to provide councils with a free assessment tool to gauge how well they are using online technology.
Local authorities can use the 10-minute online tool to benchmark their progress towards becoming an eCouncil and measure the impact of changes they are making. They can then draw up an action plan, plot progress, compare results and source other benchmarking services. When Digital Journey aggregated results from councils that had already completed the assessment it found the following responses: Do you store information or data in the cloud? 67% a little 33% none
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MARCH 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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organise our information well, other things
will follow.”
Can staff access business systems when working remotely? 90% yes 10% no Is your technology plan responsive to incorporate new technologies? Ie have you thought about what’s coming next? 52% yes 48% no Is your website responsive to and / or friendly for mobiles? 35% yes 65% no
Do you have a social media plan? 54% yes 46% no Do you provide free WiFi? 30% no Do you have a digital strategy or plan? 17% yes 23% no 60% underway. To access the free online assessment tool go to algim.digitaljourney.nz Stuart Dillon-Roberts
FEBRUARY 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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IN THIS ISSUE NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
CONTENTS P30 IN THIS ISSUE REGULARS 4 Editor’s Letter 6 In Brief 12 Products & Services 13 Events 51 LGNZ
P22
COLUMNISTS 47 Jeremy Elwood: On the Funny Stuff 48 Frana Divich: On Legal Issues 49 Peter Silcock: From Civil Contractors New Zealand 50 Lawrence Yule: From LGNZ
REPORTS 14 LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS: CHAIN REACTIONS With elections just around the corner, we talk to a cross-section of metropolitan mayoralty candidates to gauge how they see the role of local government
P14
P34
22 PROFILE: COLIN DALE On 60 years in local government 24 ON THE RIGHT COURSE: WHICH STORMWATER PROJECT? Auckland Council’s new stormwater project identification guidelines help set a clear direction for the future 26 RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE: WHO PAYS? Four points of view from the recent IPWEA conference on the value and costs of resilient infrastructure 30 LGNZ CONFERENCE 2016 Leaders mulled over the big topics in Dunedin 34 AWARDING EXCELLENCE A closer look at the finalists in the LGNZ EXCELLENCE Awards 40 THE FUTURE OF WASTE MANAGEMENT The contents of rubbish bins have never been so closely inspected 42 THE BLUE & THE GREEN Council parks teams have their hands full protecting our foreshores 45 TECHNICAL BRIEFINGS • National Policy Statement for freshwater management 2014 • Is cheap real value?
ON THE COVER Chain Reactions: Mayoral candidates share their views. See page 14. SEPTEMBER 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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EDITOR’S LETTER NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
On your marks The races to take the mayoralty in the metros are tipped to be some of the most hard-fought and interesting contests in this year’s local body elections. With the results of these races set to impact the lives of significant portions of the nation’s population, we commissioned senior writer Patricia Moore to canvass the views of a cross-section of candidates for the mayoral chains in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. While much media coverage of local body elections is usually on how mayoral candidates would address local issues, we’ve been keen to probe candidates’ thoughts on the local government sector as a whole: not just in their own areas. "Vote for me" comments have been banned. We wanted to know, for example, how they would describe the current working relationship between local and central government; how they would like that relationship to be in the future; and what steps they would take personally to help progress the relationship to that point. For practical reasons Patricia’s article comes with a couple of provisos. First, we’ve had to make some hard calls on who we’ve spoken with. There’s simply not space enough to include every single candidate from each of these areas. So, as Patricia puts it, she’s included some strong contenders, some who are campaign veterans and some who are stepping into the ring for the first time. We’re making no value judgements by our selection. Our second proviso is that, as in all good races, things change. Patricia was writing her article while the lists were still being finalised – so excellent comments from Celia Wade-Brown have been pulled – for use at another time. It would also be hard at this time not to be aware of the difficulties facing Havelock North and the serious outbreak of campylobacter contamination which has affected thousands. Two lessons are apparent. First, assuming your water supply is secure from contamination is no longer a strategy to rely on, and second, fronting up to the problem sooner rather than later should save a lot of angst later. Fortunately for Hastings District Council, both lessons were learnt very quickly, and a veritable machine of support kicked in to play to mitigate the issues. No doubt we’ll be hearing more as investigations take over.
PUBLISHER Contrafed Publishing Co. Ltd, Suite 2.1, 93 Dominion Rd, Mount Eden, Auckland 1024 PO Box 112 357, Penrose, Auckland 1642 Phone: 09 636 5715, Fax: 09 636 5716 www.localgovernmentmag.co.nz GENERAL MANAGER Kevin Lawrence DDI: 09 636 5710 Mobile: 021 512 800 kevin@contrafed.co.nz EDITOR Ruth Le Pla Mobile: 021 266 3978 ruth@localgovernmentmag.co.nz SALES CONSULTANT Charles Fairbairn DDI: 09 636 5724 Mobile: 021 411 890 charles@contrafed.co.nz CONTRIBUTORS Mary Bell, Frana Divich, Jeremy Elwood, Patricia Moore, Peter Silcock, Alan Titchall, Lawrence Yule ADMINISTRATION/SUBSCRIPTIONS admin@contrafed.co.nz DDI: 09 636 5715 PRODUCTION Design: Jonathan Whittaker studio@contrafed.co.nz Printing: PMP MAXUM CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME Please contact the editor before sending them in. Articles in Local Government Magazine are copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher. DISCLAIMER Local Government Magazine is an independent publication owned and produced by Contrafed Publishing. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of any of its shareholding organisations.
Ruth Le Pla, editor, ruth@localgovernmentmag.co.nz
www.linkedin.com/nzlocalgovernmentmag @nzlgmagazine
ISSN 0028-8403
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IN BRIEF Lesson from Havelock North Local authorities around the country can take a lesson from Havelock North in Hastings – don’t presume your water supply is so clean it doesn’t need treatment. When more than half of Havelock North’s households and 3200 of the town’s 13,000 people were affected by a gastro outbreak sourced from the local water supply, the district resembled a plague epidemic zone. Schools were closed; Red Cross and Civil Defence volunteers went door knocking; water tankers were deployed; and sanitising products distributed. The range of agencies involved in the emergency response was extensive, including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Development, the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board, Hastings District Council and the Red Cross. Even the Inland Revenue Department has offered staff to help man telephones. DHB medical officer of health Nick Jones says it is impossible to say when exactly the campylobacter entered the town’s water supply, but the town supply water in Havelock North is not chlorinated so it was open to contamination. Since the outbreak last month the water supply is no longer classified as secure and a permanent treatment of some kind, on top of chlorination, will be necessary.
Push bike win for Coughlan Mayoral candidate Jo Coughlan is “thrilled” that a controversial proposed cycleway between the Capital’s Eastern Suburbs to the CBD has the greenlight. Coughlan has led the charge for a rethink on cycleways in the city since April which culminated in an amendment at the Transport and Urban Development Committee 30 June that says a cycleway along Cobham Drive and around the bays to Ngauranga from Miramar, as part of the Great Harbour Way is considered as part of the refreshed cycleway programme. “Lessons had been learnt from Island Bay cycleway and councillors are realising that there is a finite amount of money available from government and we have one shot at getting cycle ways right,” says Coughlan. The government has allocated $36.91 million for Wellington and local government a further $15.05 million as part of the Government’s Urban Cycleways Programme in Wellington City and the Hutt Valley.
Why did they ask? Auckland Council invested $90,000 on its Citizens Insights Monitor to find out that almost half of its citizens (mostly rate payers) do not trust it to make the right decisions, and only a small minority (15 percent) were satisfied with the council’s performance. The cost of the survey was divided evenly between project design and reporting and fieldwork and analytics. “The purpose of the Citizen Insight Monitor is to inform strategies to grow trust and confidence in Auckland Council and its CCOs, to ensure the organisation can effectively deliver the vision to become the ‘World’s Most Liveable City’, and meets the needs of all Auckland residents,” says the council. Well – now you know.
Independent Assessment Board chair Local Government NZ has appointed Toby Stevenson, director of Sapere Research Group and independent company director, as the inaugural chair of the Independent Assessment Board to oversee the new local government ratings system. “We are seeking to lift and demonstrate the performance of the sector and need strong and independent people to guide the process,” says LGNZ chief Malcolm Alexander. The association says the new ratings system will “demonstrate and improve the value and services of councils by measuring indicators across leadership, finance, service delivery and community engagement”. Participating councils will be assessed by independent experts every three years, given an overall rating on a nine point scale from triple A to single C, and the results publicised. Councils will discuss results with
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communities and use the assessments to plan improvements. “The system is being set up to give communities a clear and independent picture of how well their council is performing in serving the community, and to give councils information on where they can improve,” says LGNZ and 21 councils have signed up as Foundation Councils to be the first to be assessed. Stevenson’s experience as an independent consultant and director in the past includes providing independent evidence on economic benefits for resource consent applications with a number of local authorities and has given expert evidence in the Environment Court and Employment Relations Authority. He also sat on the Ministerial Review of the Electricity Industry in 2009 that led to 29 changes to the electricity industry being passed in legislation (he is the chairman of King Country Energy).
Auckland Unitary Plan finally revealed After a four-year saga of a Biblical scale the Auckland Council completed decisions on the Independent Hearings Panel recommendations on the much-debated Auckland Unitary Plan. Last month the council’s Governing Body made its final decisions on the recommendations from the Independent Hearings Panel following four days of decision-making. They were publicly notified on August 19, which was followed by a statutory 20 working day period for limited appeals (closes September 16). Key decisions made by the council mean the new Auckland Unitary Plan will provide for: Over 400,000 new residential homes to meet city growth over the next three decades and expansion of the Rural Urban Boundary to open up more new land for development (with flexibility to move the boundary through private plan changes). The single-home character of Auckland will change with a “more compact city” that provides homes in the existing urban area of two to
three storeys, and up to six storeys close to town centres and transport hubs. The council says this is tempered with a “focus on high quality urban design, including the requirement for a resource consent for more than three dwellings on a site that complies with urban design rules and a minimum size for apartments. “Protection of our historic heritage with approximately 120 additional historic places [was] scheduled, as well as the retention of protection of 74 volcanic viewshafts.” Auckland mayor Len Brown says the decisions on the Unitary Plan were passed with a high level of goodwill. “My colleagues are to be applauded for their positive manner, as is the public for allowing us the space to deliberate accordingly. We now have a very finely balanced plan, which will ultimately deliver for the benefit of Auckland. I also salute the outstanding professionalism of council staff.”
Health sector: financial sustainability a challenge The Auditor-General’s report Health sector: Results of the 2014/15 Audits was presented to the House of Representatives last month. In 2014/15, the government spent about $15 billion on the sector, which is the second-highest area of spending after social security and welfare. According to the report financial sustainability has been a challenge for district health boards for a long time, and while in general DHBs
are doing reasonably well at marshalling their resources for current operational needs, their planning for the future and ability to deal with uncertainty or change is limited. Among the many costs contributing to financial pressure on DHBs is the capital charge that the government places on DHBs’ net equity. It is not clear what the capital charge regime is actually achieving in the health sector, the report says.
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IN BRIEF DATES FOR YOUR DIARY SEPTEMBER 18 – 20 Customer Service Symposium. James Cook Wellington bit.ly/ALGIM_CustomerService
1 Road to 2018 LTP Seminar. Millennium Hotel, Queenstown bit.ly/SOLGM_RoadTo2018 [See website for other dates / venues]
19 – 20 Auckland Transport Infrastructure Forum. Pullman Hotel, Auckland bit.ly/CONFERENZ_AklTransport
1 – Dec 13 Elected Members Inductions. LGNZ, Nationwide www.lgnz.co.nz
21 – 23 2016 SOLGM Annual Summit: Inspiring Leadership. The Langham, Auckland www.cmnzl.co.nz/solgm-2016
2–3 Public Lighting 2016 Conference. Sydney bit.ly/IPWEA_PublicLightingConf
22 – 24 RMLA’s OUTstanding Annual Conference 2016. The Rutherford Hotel, Nelson www.rmla.org.nz/annual-conference
7–8 NAMS Advanced Asset Management Forum 2016. InterContinental Hotel Wellington www.nams.org.nz
OCTOBER 3–4 Funding and Rating Forum. Amora Hotel, Wellington bit.ly/SOLGM_FundingRating 5 Introduction to Asset Management. Commodore Airport Hotel, Christchurch bit.ly/IPWEA_IntroAssetMgmt 9 – 14 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition. Brisbane, Australia bit.ly/IWAWorldWaterCongress
21 – 23 2016 Annual ALGIM Conference. SKYCITY Convention Centre, Auckland bit.ly/ALGIM_Conference 28 – 2 Dec Water Infrastructure & The Environment. Millennium Hotel, Queenstown www.nzhs2016.co.nz 30 – 1 Dec NZ Transport Agency and NZIHT 17th Annual Conference. Dunedin Centre, Dunedin bit.ly/NZTA_NZIHT_Conference
DECEMBER
10 – 14 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne www.itsworldcongress2016.com
2 2016 Elections Debrief. Amora Hotel, Wellington bit.ly/SOLGM_ElectionsDebrief_2016
11 – 12 Australia-New Zealand Climate Change and Business Conference. Rendezvous Hotel, Auckland www.climateandbusiness.com
6 Introduction to Financial Governance. LGNZ LGNZ, Lambton Quay, Wellington www.lgnz.co.nz
19 – 21 Water New Zealand’s 58th Annual Conference & Expo. Rotorua Energy Events Centre www.waternzconference.org.nz
15 Introduction to Financial Governance. LGNZ Selwyn District Council, Rolleston www.lgnz.co.nz
20 – 21 NZCID Building Nations Symposium – Infrastructure of the Future. Auckland Viaduct Events Centre bit.ly/NZCID_BuildingNations
2017 FEBRUARY
27 – 28 Mayors Induction. LGNZ, Wellington www.lgnz.co.nz
NOVEMBER 1 Asset Management for Parks and Community Facilities. Commodore Airport Hotel, Christchurch bit.ly/IPWEA_AssetMgmtParks
22 – 23 Freshwater Management & Infrastructure. Wellington bit.ly/CONFERENZ_FreshwaterMgmt
JULY 23 – 25 LGNZ conference. Auckland www.lgnz.co.nz
Would you like us to include your event in this calendar? Please email details to ruth@localgovernmentmag.co.nz
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Odd couple political campaigning
NZCID in favour of Puhoi-Warkworth PPP
The former Reserve Bank governor and National Party leader Don Brash, and former Labour Cabinet minister John Tamihere are backing Auckland Council candidate David Rankin who is standing for the Waitakere Ward because of “a growing sense of frustration” with the way Waitakere has been treated. ”For too long, the area has played poor cousin to other parts of Auckland and we are in desperate need of catch-up. The key issues I see affecting us are a multi-billion dollar rail loop that we won’t see any benefit from, planned road tolls which will penalise us for where we live, the refusal of council to zone land in our area for employment, the unbelievably slow rate of widening the north-western motorway, a shortage of housing land, and red-tape obstructing home renovations.” Rankin also wants to halt all work on the rail-loop until its financial viability has been proven, ban tolls outright on any Auckland road, introduce international construction practices to complete all roading projects in the next 12 months, open up hundreds of hectares of land for genuinely affordable housing, and guarantee a three-week consents approval process.
“The Puhoi to Warkworth motorway partnership between the NZ Transport Agency and the Northern Express Group has accelerated investment in critical infrastructure for North Auckland and Northland, while protecting the taxpayer from construction blowouts,” says Stephen Selwood, chief executive of the NZ Council for Infrastructure Development. “The consortium of ACC, HRL Morrison & Co, Macquarie, Fletchers and Spanish construction giant Acciona has become the preferred bidder to construct the 18.5-kilometre Road of National Significance. “We can now expect construction to get underway on this vital link by early 2017, perhaps a decade or more faster than if the project had been constrained by traditional funding limitations. “In leveraging private finance, the road will get built sooner, bringing forward the benefit of improved connectivity for areas north of Auckland. “By tying private capital to the deal, NZTA will be guaranteed a fit for purpose road for 25 years and problems which arise will be absorbed by the private consortium and not shifted onto taxpayers.”
New chief for Taupo District Council Taupo District Council’s new chief executive Gareth Green has already been in the chair since the departure of former chief executive Rob Williams in May. Gareth joined the council in 2005 as the principal planner for resource consents after working at Whangarei District Council, the
Department of Conservation and New Plymouth District Council. Other positions at TDC have included manager of resource consents, planning manager, and group manager of environmental services. He has held the role of policy and operations group manager for the past four years.
Broadband for motorhomers a boost for Motorhome Tourism in your patch on Motorhome Tourism.
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aunched just this month,
“It also provides our Motorhome
“However, until now the difficulty
NZMCA DATA – which offers
Friendly towns (which now number
of keeping in touch with friends
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40) and the local activities on
and family via the internet or using
and big data – has attracted a host of
our Event Calendar with another
technology to stream entertainment
member sign-ups and NZMCA CEO
opportunity to connect with our
on very restrictive mobile phone
Bruce Lochore says it is going to
members at a prime time – when they
data plans has been limiting for our
transform members’ travel plans.
are in your area and looking for things
members,” says Mr Lochore.
“The convenience of broadband
to do.”
“This new service means our
service that’s as fast and consistent
At present, the average NZMCA
members will be able to enjoy all the
as city broadband while they are on
member spends around 75 days per
benefits of technology while they are
the road will encourage our members
year on the road.
travelling.”
to stay away for longer.
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SER VIC E DEL IVE RY
IN BRIEF
NEXT GENERATION
COUNCILS
Time for fresh th ink
I
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Budget cuts are making councils in working. Dav the UK ado id Hammon pt whole new d calls for ways of more innovati magine a coun on here too. cil with a staffsome
owned services. Pictu re several coun mutual company to budgets to run cils in an area run services. and plann pooling their ing initiatives, They’re mayb with a gove British local rnme e even shari years ahea d: ng budgets government under the same nt department. Or seems light imagine sever Uʙ{ĂŠÂŤiĂ€Vi chief execu Â˜ĂŒĂŠÂœvĂŠ Ă€ÂˆĂŒÂˆĂƒÂ…ĂŠVÂœ al councils tive and senio These servi Ă•Â˜VˆÂ?ĂƒĂŠ>Ă€iĂŠÂˆÂ˜ĂŠĂƒÂ… ce delivery UĂŠĂŠ"Ă›iÀʅ>Â?vĂŠÂ…> r manageme methods are nt team. >Ă€i`ĂŠĂƒiĂ€Ă›ÂˆViĂƒĂ† In a briefing Ă›iĂŠ>ĂŠĂŒĂ€>`ˆ˜ already in }ĂŠVÂœÂ“ÂŤ>Â˜Ăž pape ĂŒÂœĂŠÂŁĂ¤Ă¤ĂŠÂŤiĂ€ use in Engla ĂŠ>˜`ĂŠĂŒÂ…ÂˆĂƒĂŠÂˆĂƒĂŠiĂ?ÂŤ ViÂ˜ĂŒĂŠÂœvĂŠVÂœĂ•Â˜VˆÂ? this year, minis r released to the Hous nd. iVĂŒi`ĂŠĂŒÂœĂŠĂ€ÂˆĂƒiĂŠ e of Commons ĂƒĂŠLÞÊÓäÓäÆ UĂŠĂŠxÇʍiĂ€ViÂ˜ĂŒĂŠ ters were made ÂœÂŤiĂ€>ĂŒiĂŠ>ĂŠÂ? to achieve in April aware of the ÂœÂˆÂ˜ĂŒĂŠĂ›iÂ˜ĂŒĂ•Ă€ cost efficiency, UĂŠĂŠ ÂœĂ•Â˜VˆÂ?ĂƒĂŠÂŤĂ€ effor iĂŠĂœÂˆĂŒ ts natio Â…ĂŠĂŒÂ…i modern servi ÂˆĂ›>ĂŒiÂ?ĂžĂŠÂˆÂ˜Ă› engagement. nwide ĂŠÂŤĂ€ÂˆĂ›>ĂŒiĂŠĂƒiV iĂƒĂŒĂŠÂˆÂ˜ĂŠÂŤĂ€ÂœÂŤ ce delivery ĂŒÂœĂ€Ă†ĂŠ>˜` companies iĂ€ĂŒÂˆiĂƒ]ĂŠL>˜ and citizen to offset rates Whilst New ÂŽĂƒĂŠ>˜`ĂŠVœ˜ . ĂƒĂ•Â?ĂŒÂˆÂ˜}ĂŠ In his April Zealand tinke be established ministerial rs with rules briefing pape Alternative more easily allowing CCO Forms of r Local Gove and celebrates s to Servi Northamp some share tonshire Coun ce Delivery, Mark Sand rnment: d services ty Council ford cites of a next gener in England ation mode as an l. The coun example cil will down size, become
ON THE WAT
CHLIST
South Taran aki District Counc il – Next Gener Chief executive ation Intern Craig Stevenson al Systems has developed the envy of other New Zealan a staff cultur e that’s d councils. South Council has been a finalis Taranaki Distric t in the IBM t for seven years / Kenexa Best in a row and Workplaces has the highes Survey government. t staff engag Craig regula ement in local rly has counc finding missio ils coming to ns, and a stream his door on fact of applicants A humble leader for his counc , he says, “If il’s positions. you look after after the busine your staff they will ss.� look Craig Steven
Letter to the editor
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South Waika to District Counc il – Next Gener NÄ‘Ć?Ĺ ĹŽ OÄŠĹƒĹ“ gĹƒĹšÄžĹ“Ä‘ĹƒĹŽ đŚĤ ation Partn & ĹŽÄ‘ĹƒÄť 6Ĺ erships đŚĤ ijŽŚĤĊĤ Ä?Ä?ŲȀ ÄžĹ Ĺ˝ĹšÄžĹƒ ŸŀĊ Ä‘Ć? Ĺ Äł aœĊŚŸ Ĺ“ ŀđŲ ŏđŎŸŚĊŎĊĤ Ɖ Ć? aĹ Ĺ“Ć?ŸĊĞŀ Äł ready cours ĹƒĹ¸Ĺ€ Ĺ ĹŽ ŸŀĊ Ä¤ÄŠĆˆÄŠ es for youth œŠŏřĊŚŸ Ĺ Äł employmen logistics and ƉŠŎőȗ t targeting commercial the distribution, road transport industry.
The Road Transp ort, Wareho using and Logistic Trade Trainin g programme. s Centre is an Both facilitie and qualifications addition to the s train local Tokoroa youth, providi tertiary educat to match local labour require ng them with ion provider ments. They skills Waiariki Bay of Plenty Polytec are delivered through hnic.
Steve Chadw
new. ral government reforms of the 1980s and 1990s neo-liberal cent Rather, they’re the re-heated leftovers increased deprivation and ing: “likely to lead to service failure, and should come with a health warn good for you. ’re to be avoided if you know what’s decreased democratic control�. They great success Hammond makes budgets in the UK have not been the The swingeing cuts to local authority essential services delivered by et cuts have meant that many of the them out to be. In fact, extensive budg headlines should sound alarm bells abysmally. A small sample of recent local authorities in the UK are failing would be a good one to follow. for anyone who thinks the UK model ); “UK elderly care homes in history� (The Guardian, March 29, 2016 “Libraries facing greatest crisis in their care: Crisis talks with homes ncial Times, February 5, 2016); “Social crisis as local authority cuts bite� (Fina es about local government in In fact it was difficult to find news stori ‘on brink’� (BBC, November 19, 2015). is� in the headline. the UK that didn’t feature the word “cris to a dangerous extreme. And ices in the UK have been underfunded Local public infrastructure and serv A 2016 Guardian newspaper hips (PPPs) are not the way out of this. outsourcing and public-private partners gements signed by local found that 36 percent of the PPP arran survey of local authorities in the UK partnerships had not delivered the had gone back in-house because the authorities between 2000 and 2007 es, and were inflexible. promised cost reductions or efficienci not [PPPs] led to more Campaign found that “more often than Research last year by the Jubilee Debt ices than those directly funded by untable, and lower quality public serv expensive, less democratically acco s legacy of hidden public debts�. governments [and] leave an enormou PPP projects – we have the fall-out of failed outsourcing and We don’t need to look overseas to see in South Dunedin, for instance, and. Last year’s catastrophic floods plenty of examples at home in New Zeal – a job that had been tenance of the city’s drainage systems were in part caused by inadequate main contracted out to Fulton Hogan. Christchurch, allegedly because a PPP to build a convention centre in In July the government pulled out of a complex and cumbersome way As the PSA said at the time, PPPs are it had been unable to control costs. lts in the long term. nce that they deliver any better resu to do business, and there’s no evide want. Our local government nt service delivery that PSA members This is not the future of local governme ic publ services that keep our rural high quality, efficient, and effective members are committed to delivering s and bad. ing and surviving, through good time communities, towns and cities thriv ices and the people that run that we need to invest in these serv Our Stand Together campaign argues core part of our democratic in the future. Local government is a them, to keep them healthy now and to the highest bidder. it to remain in our hands, not sold off infrastructure; we need to fight for
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ick
Thames Commu nity Board membe to high school r listening students speak vision for the about their future of the area.
Thames-Co romandel Distri ct Council – Next Gener ation Local Empowerm In my forme ent r council led by mayor Glenn model of local Leach, the most democracy has been put devolved brought up in place with into a single local people tier on the gover partners but ning body as with different equal roles.
“Next Generation Councils: Time the July issue of Local Government Reading David Hammond’s article in The policies he extols for local to the future. And not in a good way. for fresh thinking�, was like going back ic private partnerships – are not – austerity, contracting out and publ government reform in New Zealand
Yours sincerely, Glenn Barclay National Security NZ Public Service Association
erence
ua District Council – Next Gener ation Gover nance
Auckland Counc il – Next Gener ation Urban Mayor Len Brown Engagement and CE Steph en Town’s city many fronts . GM arts, comm is groundbrea king on so unity and event are leading highly s Graham Bodm innovative appro an and his team activities centre aches to citizen around a comm engagemen t. Their unity practice brokers with expertise to team and local grow comm strategic partnerships unity capabilities . and council
ag.co .nz
Spot the diff
Mayor Steve Chadwick and CE Geoff Willia are leading ms groundbrea king work in iwi into the bringing governing body of council. They have also assig ned councillors portfolios relati to lead ng to the theme strategic plans s in their , supported by staff resou rces.
Mayor Len Brown , Local Govern Maungakiekie -Tamaki counci ment Minister Peseta Sam returning a llor Denise tree to Auckla Krum at a dawn Lotu-Iiga and nd’s iconic planting ceremo One Tree Hill. ny
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highly outso urced and establish a for service number of delivery, inclu new organ ding some isations But are these run by a staffEnglish coun owned mutu Zealand coun cils what the al. cils next gener ation New the same range will look like? It seem s unlikely. of allowable Next gener We don’t have and we are options in ation counc the most centr our sector ils: ČŽ uŲĊ ĹƒĹšÄžĹ“Ĺ˝Ĺ˛ĹƒĆˆÄŠ as in Engla alised natio Â˜ĂŠ >ĂŠ x ÄťĹ ĆˆÄŠĹŽĹšÄ‘ĹšÄž nd, n in the OEC ĂŠ *ÂœÂ?ˆVÞÊ +Ă•>Ă€ ÄŠ řŠĤĊœŲ Ɖ ČŽ aĹŽĹ ĆˆĹƒÄ¤ÄŠ Ä‘ ĝŎĊ D. ĹƒĹ¸Ĺ€ ĹƒĆ‰Ĺƒ đŚĤ œŠĞđœ ĂŒiĂ€Â?ÞÊ ÂŤ>ÂŤi the New đŸĊŎ ĆˆÄ‘ĹŽĹƒÄŠĹ¸Ć? ÀÊ qĂŠ Decentral Zealand local ĹŹÄŠĹ ĹŹĹ“ÄŠ Ĺ Äł Ĺ™ĹƒĆŽÄŠÄ¤ ŠŽŸŲŠŽ ČŽ ĹŽÄŠ ĞŠŲŸ ÄŠÄłÄłĹƒÄž isation: does government LGNZ princ ŎĞĊĤ Ĺ˛ÄŠĹŽĆˆĹƒÄžÄŠ ĹƒÄŠĹšĹ¸ đŚĤ ŎđŸ system meas Ų ipal policy ÄŠĹ˛Č—Ĺ™ĹƒĹšĹƒĹ™Ä‘Ĺ“ ČŽ uŚœŠĞő ŸŀĊ ĹŹ ure up?ĂŠ qĂŠ advisor Mike full benefits Ĺ Ĺ¸ÄŠĹšĹ¸ĹƒÄ‘Ĺ“ Ĺ Äł of cost effici ÄžĹ Ĺ™Ĺ™Ĺ˝ĹšĹƒĹ¸ĹƒÄŠ Reid argue ČŽ ĹŽÄŠ ŚĊŸƉŠŎ Ų s that the encies, mode citizen enga őĊĤ ŚŠŸ Ĺ˛ĹƒĹ“Ĺ ÄŠ gement will rn service Ĥ ČŽ 0ŠĞŽ delivery and not be realis Ų Ĺ Ĺš ĞŽŲŸŠř devolution ĊŎŲ đŚĤ Ä?ŽŲ ed here until of political, ĹƒĹšÄŠĹ˛Ĺ˛ ČŽ 6Ä‘ĆˆÄŠ ŏŎŠijĊ there is more administra local governme Ĺ˛Ĺ˛ĹƒĹ Ĺš Ä‘Ĺ“ ĹƒĹšĹ¸ÄŠĹŽĹšÄ‘Ĺ“ Ų tive and fund nt. Ć?ŲŸĊřŲ ČŽ gŸđijij đŚĤ ing powers řđŚđĝĊřĊ I believe that to ŚŸ ƉŠmany elem ĹŽĹ‘ ĹƒĹš ŏđŎŸŚĊ ČŽ 6Ä‘ĆˆÄŠ ŲŸđijij ĹŽĹ˛Ĺ€ĹƒĹŹ ents of our are already đŚĤ ĊœĊĞŸĊĤ next gener in the secto řĊřÄ?ĊŎŲ ĹƒĹš ŠŚĊ ation coun r. If we could generation ŸĊđřƨ cils descr innovation put together iptions of next s all over council we the next generation local gove woul differenceâ€? councils (see rnment into ). But we need five next gener d glimpse our futur box story “Spo one and e. I’m keep to recognise ation exam developme t the ing an eye the need for ples in New “On the watc nt of the secto on innovation Zealand (see hlistâ€?). r on a much Imagine a coun box broader front New Zeala cil where iwi story “>} . nd and Aust ˆ˜iĂŠĂƒĂŒ>vvĂŠ>˜`ʓ come into ralia conti council effici the governing >˜>} nue a preoc i“iÂ˜ĂŒĂŠÂˆÂ˜ĂŠ> encies and body. ĂŠLĂ€Âœ>`iÀÊV cupation with in industrial relations rates levels also want Âœ>Â?ÂˆĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜]ĂŠÂ˜ but in servi . While some broader servi council resou ÂœĂŒĂŠÂ?Ă• ce ĂƒĂŒĂŠ delivery itself communiti ces local coun rcing comm the same range . Or, imagine es own prior unities to deliv cils as yet of funding a ities. It’s easy do not have er services tools made ˜}Â?>˜`ĂŠi˜ to meet their if you try. Â?ÂœĂžĂƒÂ°ĂŠ ÂœĂ€ĂŠ`Âœ available to LG ĂŠĂŒÂ…iÞʅ>Ă›iĂŠĂŒÂ…iĂŠĂƒ the sector I have listed as >“iĂŠLĂ€i>` ‘cost effici ĂŒÂ…ĂŠÂœvʓ>˜`>ĂŒi° UĂŠĂŠĂŠ >Ă›Âˆ`ĂŠ >““œ˜` ent and rates ĂŠ ÂˆĂƒĂŠ `ÂˆĂ€iVĂŒÂœĂ€ĂŠ -minimal’ Ham mond ÂœvĂŠ as one of >`Ă›ÂˆĂƒÂœĂ€ĂžĂŠ Robertson my ĂƒiĂ€Ă›ÂˆViĂƒĂŠ and Thames-Co romandel Distr the former chief execu wÀ“Ê ict Council. tive of Rotor
JULY 2016 LOCAL GOVER NMEN
T MAGA ZINE
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Cracking down on tourist bludgers Local government and Tourism Holdings Limited (THL) have partnered over a ‘freedom camping’ infringements trial in an effort to crack down on campervan rental hirers who break freedom camping laws. The Thames-Coromandel and Queenstown-Lakes district councils are working with THL, operating the Maui, Britz and Mighty rental campervan brands, to trial a voluntary scheme to help collect infringement fees incurred by hirers who flout freedom camping laws. The poor behaviour of some freedom campers casts stigma over the whole practice and needs to be addressed, say councils. Irresponsible use of public places, camping where prohibited, littering, incorrect disposal of human waste, and a poor level of knowledge by the campers are just some of the issues they face. “Incentivising the right behaviour is proving to be a challenge, as is collection of unpaid infringement fines. At present, infringement fines are not tagged to the rental vehicle and many infringement fines are unpaid when people leave the country,” says LGNZ. LGNZ president Lawrence Yule says that support from the tourism industry is imperative to successfully improve the management of freedom camping in communities throughout New Zealand. “Tourism operators have multiple touchpoints with tourists and as such are perfectly placed for assisting local councils with educating customers, enforcement and collection of fines.” Grant Webster, CEO, Tourism Holdings agrees there is a problem. “We believe in the benefits that motorhome tourism brings to areas that are off the mainstream tourist routes. We have taken a strong educational approach to responsible camping to date; ensuring customers have the Campermate app at hand that informs them of all approved designated overnight parking spots, commercial campsites and DOC sites.
“We are now happy to work with councils to take this a step further and help collect infringement fees for those that ignore the wide range of approved overnight options available to our rental motorhome customers.” Councils called for changes to the Freedom Camping Act 2011 in a remit presented by South Island councils at the LGNZ conference this year. Local Government Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga also says the government is considering ways to improve the management of freedom camping. A review will consider widening the infringement powers available to councils, and will also look at the different approaches councils are taking to freedom camping.
ALGIM conference programme Planned for November 21-23 at SkyCity Auckland, the Annual SOLGM conference is open for registrations. Presentations include: • ‘Thriving in an age of disruption, how to be the disruptor not the disrupted’ – by Owen McCall who is a consultant, CIO and author and will be launching his latest book; • Australia’s Richard Taylor of Survey Monkey, who will talk on ‘Community engagement in a digital era’; • Thomas Frey, Google’s top rated Futurist Speaker and founder of the DaVinci Institute. Travelling from the US, Thomas will be sharing his perspective of the future; • ‘Creating a data democracy’ – Lillian Grace from Figure NZ is a key
member of the ‘open data revolution’ and will be looking at its potential for the future; • Birds of a Feather sessions – an opportunity to talk about security and risk management, change management, open data and more; • Batman needed his technology to defeat criminals and Phil Thompson of Auror sees it the same way – he’ll be talking about ‘Shaping the future of crime-fighting with information and intelligence'; • A wide collection of case studies from councils highlighting successes, challenges and innovative solutions that have moved from theory to practice; and • Technical workshops and panel discussions.
Invercargill council wins ALGIM award The Invercargill City Council was awarded the 2016 ALGIM Information Management & Records Project of the Year Award for moving its Land Information Memorandum from a paper based to electronic system. The council adjusted its entire paper-based system to an adaptable electronic one that now saves a significant amount of staff time. The award, which recongises excellence and innovation by a council for a recent IM project, was presented at the annual Association of Local Government Information Management
Information Management/Records Symposium. Invercargill City Council director of Environment and Planning Services, Pamela Gare, and Records Team leader, Cheryl Anderson, were at the symposium to accept the award. Coming in as a close first runner up was Waikato Regional Council with its Discover Project, which turned an inefficient document management system into one that is simple and intuitive to use. Hutt City Council was also a finalist for its Implementing a Replacement Cemetery Management System. SEPTEMBER 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES Sealing leaks instantly Aquatech Solutions has introduced Aquaseal, a waterstop sealant designed to seal leaking structures and stop leaks instantly. The product expands 2000 percent in four to five seconds sealing leaks in flowing water. Aquatech Solutions is a specialist engineering company offering pipe network rehabilitation systems. Aquaseal is commonly carried and used by first response teams for
stopping toxic leaks into the environment. It is designed to permanently plug high-infiltration sources in all structures and will stop leaks in excess of 200 litres per minute. Aquatech Solutions says one manhole leaking 10 litres per minute will leak 15 cubic metres per day. If the cost of treating wastewater is $2 per cubic metre, this single manhole with a 10 litre per minute leak will
cost more than $10,000 per year. In Wellington, construction, maintenance and management firm City Care is already using Aquaseal on all of its first response vehicles to stop sewage leaks into waterways. Other local government bodies using the product for their drainage networks include Wellington Water, Marlborough District Council, Auckland Council and Porirua City Council.
Belt and braces approach for a watertight seal
Manage your ACC claims
Engineering firm Aquatech Solutions is making its Aquawrap watertight seal available on the local market. The butyl rubber sleeve provides a watertight seal around manhole, pipe or box culvert joints. It can also be used to prevent corrosion. It resists harsh soil conditions and provides a root barrier for any crack or joint. Aquawrap adheres to all surfaces including concrete, earthenware, plastics (PVC, PE and PP) and is stable in ultraviolet light. It has an unlimited shelf life and design life of more than 50 years.
ACC risk management firm Manage Company is formally launching its online subscriptionbased ManageCLAIMS toolkit. Clients can use the toolkit’s tips, templates, guidance and support to manage a claim, and transactions with employees and with ACC. Manage Company says employees whose claims are handled proactively are more likely to be more engaged in their work which, in turn, results in less time off work. For the organisation, this has a direct beneficial impact on the cost of replacement staff, training and supervision.
Aquatech Solutions director Leigh John says most of the councils and contractors he has spoken with so far are interested in using it as a “belt and braces” approach in a number of situations. These include in high water table areas, areas prone to ground movement, around larger-diameter manhole and pumpstation joints, and in connections between plastic pipes and concrete.
Tell us about your products & services If you have recently launched a new product or service please email editor Ruth Le Pla for next steps on sharing your story with the people who make the buying decisions in local government. All articles published at the discretion of the editor. ruth@localgovernmentmag.co.nz
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EVENTS
CELEBRATING SUCCESS WITH CIVIL CONTRACTORS The 2016 Civil Contractors NZ conference went all out this year with the choice of venue being the SkyCity Conference centre in Auckland. While it meant no big machines sitting outside at the entrance it did make for an upmarket venue which was matched with an upmarket programme. The event attracted a record number of delegates – over 450 conference participants and over 40 trade exhibition stands. New this year were three sessions of concurrent presentations. Each session had four business streams, providing delegates with a wide choice of 30 different presentations. The conference’s success has been credited to the conference advisory group from the Auckland Branch, led by Stuart Robertson and Jarrad Reid. CCNZ says it will look at a similar collaborative model for future conferences.
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1. First line of defence – registration. 2. Simon Bridges is a popular MP to have up on stage at any CCNZ function. 3. Emergency services at SkyCity Conference centre were excellent. 4. Brian Warren (right) from Canterbury has been elected as president of CCNZ after Dave Connell (with wife Margo) from Waikato stepped down from the role after three years. Brian has been vice president for the past year and has been on CCNZ’s national executive committee for the past two years. Before that Brian was on the board of Roading NZ for nine years and a member of the merger committee which brought the Contractors’ Federation and Roading NZ together.
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5. The serious stuff started on Thursday morning. 6. CCNZ chief Peter Silcock detailing another successful year for the relatively new association since the Contractors’ Federation merged with Roading NZ in 2014. 7. The Partners’ Programme hosted 21 women and a memorable trip to Waiheke Island. There they visited Rangihoua Estate for a premium olive oil tasting and Batch Winery where they took part in a Botanical Distillery Fragrance Event where they made their own fragrances to take home. 7
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8. Dave Jewell, Bond Construction Management, on making Early Contractor Involvement a success for your client.
SEPTEMBER 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS
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one r C H a i r URC H o C I ST V i ct CHR l ie z l a eD n n Lia ND KLA C U A f f o ON G l i NGT I L h L P WE r e st e L in CH HUR C T J u st IS CHR o nt i ON M NGT n I L h L WE Jo e i ch t i R ND e n KLA C e U l k A He c i r rb a w S e ND รถ l KLA Ch AU C as m o Th ON k r NGT I a L L M WE g n u o Y a l CH HUR C T N i co S I CHR o rb a Z N John G TO N I L WEL 14 l www.localgovernmentmag.co.nz o r e Ze
CHAIN REACTIONS Mayoral candidates share their views With October’s local government elections looming and electioneering in full swing, the focus is firmly on how mayoral candidates would address local issues. But what about the big picture? How do they see the place of local government in an increasingly complex and challenging environment? Are local bodies expected to provide public services they can no longer afford – for a population whose interest in voting is apathetic to say the least? Patricia Moore reports.
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ocal Government Magazine invited a cross-section of candidates for the mayoral chain in three of our major metropolitan areas, to step away from the hustings and share their views; some are strong contenders, some are campaign veterans and some are stepping into the ring for the first time.
Unfortunately the numbers involved prevent us from including every candidate and, as this issue went to press, nominations were still open. Not all candidates we approached were able to respond, with one even declining the opportunity as campaigning “is quite a time consuming thing for me currently”.
AUCKLAND CITY
Victoria Crone
Auckland mayoral candidate Vic Crone believes the biggest issue facing the local government sector is responding to the “phenomenal speed of change we’re seeing on the global stage”. That said, she regards rising growth, future technologies and changing behaviours as amazing opportunities. The downside is that they can put unprepared cities on the backfoot, she says. “Across the globe we’re seeing this in a massive infrastructure deficit.” Local
government can prepare for this by being future-savvy and agile enough to navigate this volatility, she says. So how does she view the relationship between local and central government? “By nature it’s a symbiotic relationship and should be more of a win-win partnership based on respect, trust and collaboration.” Using Auckland as an example she suggests it’s “not a strong productive working relationship – much like putting two competitors in a room to work together. “I’ve worked closely with central government and regional councils and know they can work extremely well together under leadership that’s focused on outcomes. Importantly, if councils want to lobby government for resources they need to show that they’ve first tried alternatives and can hold up their end of the bargain by delivering effectively.” Asked how she’d react if, as mayor, she was told something she expected to do was not possible, Vic says the research and cost-benefit analyses should speak loud and
clear. “If that means my preferred approach is a no-go, I’ll accept that and look at other options. However, if people are telling me it’s not possible for bureaucratic reasons, I’d definitely be taking a magnifying glass to that process.” The first committee Vic sat on was the Yellow Pages Alliance Board, overseeing the sale and transition of Yellow Pages from an operational, legal and technical perspective. She learned a number of things from that experience. “Remaining focused on your customers makes major decisions much clearer; also finding common values and purpose across quite different organisations can help unstick difficult issues and decisions. Finally, I learned that taking care of the small details is important, particularly when it involves complex legal and regulatory issues and contracts.” Vic believes the skill-sets around decisionmaking tables need to be lifted. “In my experience you’re only as strong as your team and the biggest legacy you leave behind is what you’ve taught them.”
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LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS
Phil Goff
For mayoral candidate Phil Goff many of the issues facing local government in Auckland translate across the rest of the country. “Housing and transport will be major issues for a number of cities as they continue to grow in size and population.” He also cites the expectation that councils achieve greater efficiencies which allow them to do
Chlöe Swarbrick
From Chlöe Swarbrick’s perspective, the biggest issue facing the local government sector over the next five years will be “proactively adapting to and planning for the changing world”. Lack of long-term thinking and future proofing puts the sector at the risk of becoming redundant, she says. The current legislative trend has seen New Zealand’s central government bolster its powers, in turn minimising the autonomy
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more with less; water quality, and the need to reduce carbon emissions to deal with climate change in line with the agreement made at the 2015 UN Climate Change conference, and the safety and security of our ethnic communities. “For every single one of these issues, a council’s relationship with central government can make the difference between resolving it or letting it drag on. Councils and government must work together to achieve the best possible outcome or risk spiralling problems. “The current working relationship between central and local government falls short of what is optimal. There are still examples of blame-shifting and finger-pointing, for example on the reasons for the Auckland housing crisis. On the positive side, better cooperation has been achieved through the establishment of the Auckland Transport Agreement project with the two tiers of government no longer working at odds with each other.” Achieving one’s goals as mayor is not always easy; how would Phil react to being told something was just not possible – a case
of ‘bureaucracy gone mad’? “I’d have done my homework and formulated an expectation so I’d first want to know why it wasn’t possible or was excessively bureaucratic. “If it’s advice from your CEO you’d want and expect them to be frank in their comments. It’s unwise not to listen to genuine advice tendered to you – and just as unwise to surrender to it without challenging it and getting contestable advice.” If you’re confident your expectations are well-founded you’d expect council officials to implement them, even if they disagreed with you, he says. “The final decision rests with the elected representative, not the official.” And as mayor how would Phil handle the turnover of elected representatives – invariably with little or no local government experience? “Some turnover is desirable,” he says. “People with new ideas can refresh council and may bring with them vast experience from other areas. Councillors should be judged not on their newness to the role but on their competence and skills.”
of local government, she says. “As such the working relationship between local and central government is tense.” So how would she like to see it evolve? She doesn’t believe there’s a one-size-fitsall solution for local government across the country, “but local government is best placed to understand the needs of their communities. It makes common and practical sense that local government has greater autonomy and freedom to plan the future of their cities – double handling by central government is not only inefficient but minimises the purpose of having elected council members.” The solution, she says, is to increase the dialogue, recognising that all sides of the argument want our cities to function at their best. Growing public transparency is also important to Chlöe. “Currently so much of what happens in governance happens without the understanding of the general population which, if adequately informed, would be a substantial and more satisfactory check and balance than the current strain between local and central.” Chlöe’s first experience of committee
work was as a law student representative on the Auckland University Students’ Association. That taught her change comes from recognising differences in perspective, motivation and resources, “and acknowledging the requirement for balance and collectively working for the good of us all”. She says, as a framework, the recently launched LGNZ 2050 programme is a brilliant tool for inspecting and researching the problems faced by our communities. “It promotes visibility of the depth and breadth of current and future obstacles and in doing so promotes some potential solutions. We need to take this information and construct and commit to genuine plans to place New Zealand’s cities in good stead for these evidently foreseeable issues and opportunities.” Shared services are another local government initiative Chlöe sees as making “practical sense. We’re faced with increasingly tight resources on the one hand and a growing population and demand on the other. Shared services offer the opportunity for collaboration, creativity and innovation.”
Mark Thomas
Collaboration among local bodies and with central government will be an important issue in the next five years says Auckland mayoral candidate Mark Thomas. “We need to find and use new funding mechanisms, particularly for infrastructure; we need to process consents more quickly and we generally need a transformation in our approach to customer service.” The relationship between local and central
governments needs more work, he says. “Governments can be hard work at times, but so can local government. A key recommendation of the government’s Rules Reduction Taskforce last year was for government agencies to improve their engagement with the sector.” He says while the relationship between the Auckland Council and government has improved, “we’ve spent most of the past six years locked in battles around funding and the scope of work we undertake. This has limited progress. Councils also need to focus on doing a more consistent and quality job.” The issue of shared services is also exercising local government and Mark believes among disparate and remote communities there is much to be gained by a shared approach – but it requires a better job with democratic oversight. “The potential cost savings can be significant; since Auckland’s amalgamation Watercare has delivered over $100 million of savings and the retail price of water was able to be cut by an average of 15 percent.” However, he says, at times
local government tends to focus more on democratic control issues than better council services. “Local boards and councillors are too removed from control and influence and so services develop which do not always meet the needs of our communities.” When asked about the creation of more ‘super-cities’ Mark suggests other parts of the country could benefit from mergers but would need to work on a model that best suits the needs of their communities. “A key issue is how to balance regional versus local decision making. This has been a big problem with Auckland’s reforms and I think was a factor in Northland, Hawkes Bay and Wellington rejecting the merger options they recently faced. “I think there’s a big opportunity with the proposed government law changes for councils to collaborate even further on shared services, then use this as a way to consider, from an operational point of view, whether merging politically would create greater benefits.”
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LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS
CHRISTCHURCH CITY
Lianne Dalziel
For Lianne Dalziel one of the greatest issues facing local government over the next half decade hinges around subsidiarity: “Decisions being made as close to the ground as possible with centralised decision making preserved only for those issues which can’t be resolved locally.” Governments have merely paid lip service to the principle of
John Minto
subsidiarity over the years, she says. The NZ Initiative, with its commitment to developing policies that work for all New Zealanders, is doing some excellent work that could lay the foundation for a radical overhaul of the divide between central and local government, says Lianne. “Councils are ideally placed to engage with their communities in a meaningful way, deliver services in partnership with communities and achieve real results.” She also highlights the need for councils to access modern, data-driven asset management programmes to deliver infrastructure. “Gone are the days of renewals programmes based on rules of thumb.” As a teenager, Lianne sat on her tennis club board and learned the importance of collective decision making, but it was her experiences in her early 20s, as an elected member of a local union, which brought home the reality that political decisions made in Wellington constrained local decision-making. However, she believes the relationship between local and central government is a good one, “but the fact that local governments across
Local government ministers are generally not senior cabinet ministers and expressions of annoyance are the common response to any plans and programmes. A good example of this is government’s reluctance to fund public transport initiatives compared to their apparent addiction to tarseal. The many years it took government to commit to Auckland’s central city rail loop, even with overwhelming public support, is another example.” He’d like to see a much more respectful relationship and suggests the way to accomplish this is by a shift in thinking from a representative democracy, where people spend five minutes filling in a ballot paper every three years, to a participatory Christchurch mayoral candidate John Minto’s democracy, where structures enable and first committee experience was on a 1975 encourage genuine participation in decisionanti-apartheid committee in Napier where making over the full term of a council. “With he learned the importance of listening to this type of democratic structure central everyone before trying to find common ground; government would pay a lot more attention to he doesn’t pull any punches when asked his local government.” views on the current relationship between He sees a number of issues confronting local and central government. local government. “Maori representation is a “Local government is treated in a critical one which needs to be addressed as patronising manner by central government. a Treaty of Waitangi obligation.” He believes
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New Zealand oppose the current Local Government Amendment Bill means there is a disconnect. Treasury appears to see local government as a risk to be managed rather than a partner in the governance decisions which make a difference to the resilience of the nation. Resilience is not built from the top down. It’s when grassroots up meets top down, that true resilience can be built. That’s a partnership.” And, she says, after three years as mayor, she knows the role and is willing to play a part within LGNZ to ensure government sees that collaborative partnerships “offer way more than the command and control legislative straitjacket”. So has her experience as mayor convinced her amalgamation may be the way of the future? “I’m not convinced it is the way to go. As long as decision making is democratic, shared services and collaborative partnerships are the way to go. We don’t want to create centralised services when we know devolution produces better buy-in and better results.”
when local government consults with iwi too often they do so with unelected Maori of their own choosing rather than democratically elected representatives. “This is bad for everyone, politically and culturally.” Other challenges include pressure to introduce user-pays charges for water; responsible global stewardship of public transport in response to unsustainable energy use and climate change, and improving local body democracy. “Vested interest groups have enormous, anti-democratic influence in closed door meetings with senior council staff and elected representatives. Local communities and their views should be promoted above vested interests.” And, he says, if shared services are a simple service provision that don’t compromise local democracy in any way, they should be considered. However, “the Auckland supercity example is not encouraging”. So on that note, does he believe there should be wider adoption of the super-city model across the country? “No. The Auckland experience has been that it cost a lot more and has resulted in poorer levels of democratic representation.”
WELLINGTON CITY
Jo Coughlan
Value for money for rates, as ratepayer expectations of ‘more for less’ rise, is just one of the issues Jo Coughlan sees facing local government over the next few years. Indeed, as a mayoral candidate, she’s got quite a list; funding infrastructure deficit with a growing population and economy; the demarcation line between central and local government responsibilities and funding of social services
Justin Lester
Across the country the local government sector faces a number of big issues over the next five years, says Wellington mayoral candidate Justin Lester. He highlights funding infrastructure to keep pace with immigration, population growth and increased tourism; ensuring the regions remain strong and attractive to employers and employees; adapting infrastructure to facilitate new
such as housing; achieving resilience and environmental goals; how local government adds value to growing communities and economies in a competitive marketplace – citing areas such as regional promotion; and balancing competing interests in the planning process – “To name a few.” Jo sums up the current relationship between local and central governments as “mixed” and suggests there are situations where councils are underutilising people with the connections to improve the situation. “A positive relationship with central government is very important but it’s also important to have the flexibility to focus on practical solutions not party political agendas.” As far back as secondary school Jo has been involved in committee work; school ball planning, committees related to a growing family, Life Education Trust, and Wellington City Council’s Economic Growth, Events & Arts committee which she chairs. They’ve all demonstrated the importance of listening to people, she says. “Everyone has something to offer. You need to be able to work with
people across the spectrum – people who have different views – but still focus on getting a solution. Play the ball, not the person.” Looking ahead Jo agrees with NZLG president Lawrence Yule’s comments that building a sustainable, environmentally responsible, prosperous and socially inclusive future for New Zealand communities calls for an open conversation about the major long-term shifts communities are facing and how local government prepares for them. “LGNZ’s 2050 programme is a sensible solution that will future-proof New Zealand communities and prepare local government to meet the needs of those communities.” As for that vexing question of creating more super cities, Jo believes that ultimately it’s about providing value for money for ratepayers. “Amalgamations may, or may not, assist with this. Each circumstance is different and the business case needs to be worked through. Amalgamating just for the sake of it is probably not helpful while resisting the benefits of scale for the provision of some services may not work either. So, horses for courses.”
technologies in transport and waste; preserving the environment; and planning for sea-level rises that will impact on property and infrastructure in coastal towns and cities. Justin believes the working relationship between local and central government is strong. “Ultimately we’re pursuing the same goal – to make our communities stronger. Many of the projects we’re working on are co-dependent. But while relationships with agencies such as NZ Transport Agency and NZ Police are good, there are others that could be closer.” His solution? More secondment of staff from central government agencies into local government bodies and closer alignment in policy development. “Recent initiatives on transport, cycling, housing and creating a pest-free New Zealand are all co-dependent and it makes sense for local government to be involved at an early stage.” He advocates building relationships of trust with ministers and making firm commitments to agreed outcomes. “We’ve seen some good examples in the Wellington Housing Upgrade and Special Housing Accords where outcomes and
responsibilities are clearly outlined.” Elections for local government typically see a turnover of between 33 to 40 percent of members with newcomers having little or no experience in local government. Justin believes this is something Wellington City Council handles well. “The best advice I offer new councillors is to take their time, to listen carefully and seek advice when they need it.” The wider Wellington region voted against an Auckland-style super-city amalgamation. Instead they’re opting for a regional shared services approach which Justin says is making good gains. “Different options can work for different communities. In the Wairarapa we will likely see a Wairarapa District Council which will merge three existing councils.” And does he see room for improvement in LGNZ’s 2050 programme? “It’s an excellent start and will need continuing advocacy and action to make sure the big issues – demographic change, urbanisation and stewardship of our natural environment – are addressed. The real focus needs to be on where to from here and how solutions can be created.”
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LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS
Helene Ritchie
Ten-term Wellington councillor Helene Ritchie has seen a lot of local government action. And, with her hat in the ring for mayor, she’s speaking out on the issues she sees as facing the sector over the next five years. “The biggest challenges are structural, systemic and related to the undermining of the local democratic fabric of Aotearoa New Zealand.” She’s particularly concerned with “the needless intervention by central government and the potential ‘gutting’ of local government
as set out in the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill”. Helene believes the proposed Bill would make “the Local Government Commission more powerful and the minister all powerful”, eventually resulting in a situation whereby the Local Government Commission becomes a Crown Entity, directed by the minister with powers to significantly change government at the local level. “Housing is another crucial factor, along with climate change, enhancing a degraded environment, and endeavouring, through the tools available, to balance serious inequalities in New Zealand. Central government needs to recognise the key role local government plays in social housing provision.” An educative process and regular meetings would improve the relationship, she says. “Next year is an election year; the government may change, and with that the importance of local democracy and decisionmaking may change. “LGNZ’s 2050 programme is good, recognising regional disparities, an aging population, the future of work, climate change and environmental challenges. But disparities in
equality of opportunity, access and resource should be added.” Helene is not an advocate for shared services stating they lead, among other things, to fragmentation of functions, endless restructuring and associated costs. “I would prefer intersectoral cooperation with councils rather than segregation of all activities outside councils and democratic governance. “There is no evidence of so-called savings or any other evidence-based rationale. Privatisation is made easier with sale and fragmentation of remaining essential services the likely outcome.” She also firmly opposes super-city type amalgamations and, in 2009, initiated a long debate against the Wellington amalgamation proposal. “I wrote [in the Dominion Post] ‘Wellington, New Zealand’s only vibrant metropolitan centre, is already a super-duper city,’ and added ‘we do not need the kind of upheaval mooted for Auckland, despite pressure to follow Auckland.’ We won [that debate] but what a waste of resources and time. Other cities can learn what not to do from the Auckland super city!”
questionable projects, local government must exercise greater fiscal discipline.” Nicola says she sees a place for shared services which can “provide more coherent and effective administration and planning, in areas like transport and water which usually run across territorial boundaries”. But she doesn’t want more elections, preferring to see the relevant councils make such appointments. Nicola describes the relationship between central and local government as “patchy” but suggests that’s perhaps understandable. “Central government politicians are irritated when councils get involved in issues outside their remit, such as debating the merits of TPP. Such debates are pointless and send an unhelpful message. Local government needs to stick to its core role and perform it costeffectively. “Both sides need to understand each other’s role with strong and positive relationships. Central government will listen to local government if it is credible. Local government would have more credibility if term limits were
introduced, or single-member wards. This would demonstrate greater accountability, flush out the lifers who rely on name recognition, and improve democracy.” Nicola’s first committee experience was as head girl, chairing her school council and, during 20 years in the UK, she served on several insurance company boards where the 1992 Cadbury Report, with its focus on raising standards in corporate governance, had been implemented, and an increased awareness of accountability, leadership and effectiveness was taking place. One of the things this taught her was the value of treating people with respect, “so that they know their contribution is valued”. At local government level she says this means running meetings efficiently and on time. “Chairs should be consistent, clear and concise. And it’s important to understand the difference between governance and management. The roles are very different.” So does she see more super cities in the future? “Wellington is the only city I know and it’s clear we’re not too keen on following the Auckland example.” LG
Nicola Young
Rocketing rate increases are the big issue for local government across the country, says Nicola Young, mayoral candidate and current Wellington city councillor. “They will become increasingly unsustainable, especially with an aging population; interest rates are low and many ratepayers are on fixed incomes.” In Wellington, she says, many rates bills have increased by 20 percent over the past four years, with a 5.4 percent increase looming. “Rather than increasing rates to fund
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PROFILE
COLIN DALE
On 60 years in local government Far North District Council acting CEO Colin Dale was awarded life membership of LGNZ at the organisation’s recent annual conference in Dunedin. He reflects here on Kiwi fair play, instant communities and unfinished business as he looks back on his six decades in the sector.
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f there’s one unifying thread to Colin Dale’s 60 years in local government it’s his focus on community. He talks passionately about creating community facilities, improving community relations, of promoting a holistic approach to community health and of community service. Colin has dedicated decades applying that vision as a servant of local government in Auckland and Manukau cities, and more recently in the Far North where he has been the district’s acting CEO over the past two years. Community has also tended to spill beyond the confines of career. In his spare time Colin has been on the Housing NZ Tamaki Establishment boards. He was chair of the Auckland Regional Migrant Services Trust, and Counties-Manukau DHB’s ‘Let’s Beat Diabetes’ campaign. He has advised the Chinese New Settlers Services Trust, and was a member of the Hillary Commission for Recreation and Sport for six years, to name just a few of his roles outside council. It reflects his family values, he says. “I was taught respect for people and for community and I’ve always been concerned about social justice issues. But if I’m honest, I’d say what really interests me – what really drives me – is helping individuals and communities achieve their aspirations.”
LIVERPOOL, UK An early lesson in achieving aspirations came from his father. He was down the mines by age 13, but by educating himself at night he managed to escape the pits to become a senior salesman. “He ended up wearing pin-striped trousers and a bowler hat.” Post-war Liverpool, where Colin was born, was a tough environment fractured by class and social divisions. It was here that Colin got his first local government job in 1955 as a trainee health inspector with Huyton Urban District. But he aspired to more and in 1962, aged 23, Colin bought a ticket and sailed for New Zealand. He never looked back. Colin found work with Auckland City Council as a health
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inspector: “Unlike where I came from, people here got opportunities regardless of their background. New Zealand was so much more egalitarian and that was amazing to me. The Kiwi sense of fair play and family was tremendous.”
MANUKAU CITY In 1964 he moved to Manukau County Council (it became a City in 1965). It would be an association that would last over 40 years and one Colin describes as a “lifetime occupation”. “When I started, Manukau had 40,000 people and when I left it was home to 350,000. We were adding 10 streets a week.” It was a unique opportunity creating a city virtually from scratch in a booming economy. “We were providing for the needs of ‘instant communities’ as we called them. Areas like Otara, Manurewa, Pakuranga, Mangere… they came up overnight. And I was growing up with these communities as a new settler too, because I was bringing up my family in Mangere.” Family was wife, Billie, and two young sons. Billie has Te Rarawa connections from North Hokianga and they have been together for over 50 years. “My success was only possible because of Billie’s support, taking part in Manukau City’s civic life when she had a full work life as well, managing 12 staff for a major training provider in Manukau City centre.”
HEALTH TO CEO Within two years of joining Manukau, Colin was made senior health inspector. “I learned that health is a holistic concept: it’s as much about the mental as the physical.” This led to several community health initiatives, such as opening community houses for families and community health centres. The new city had its deficits. As mayor Sir Barry Curtis later recalled, “Otara was built in the late ’50s and early ’60s without considering the need for libraries, shopping facilities, public transport, Plunket services or even public phone boxes.
Advice for local government Colin Dale calls for more respect for diversity and the views of others. New Zealand has a tremendous reputation for offering opportunities, he says, but my impression is that this is changing. “There seems to be an increasing empathy deficit generally, and public services more concerned about their own interests rather than the communities they serve.” From 1989 particularly local government became more goaloriented, he says, with long-term annual and strategic planning. “I think, however, that smaller authorities are going to find it tough to demonstrate sustainability and maintain independence. For my part, councils need to have more people on the ground working on local issues.” Seeing what communities can and do achieve keeps Colin involved. “You see tremendous things happen in the Far North and other communities. We have many community organisations that have stepped up and are changing things for themselves; growing self-esteem and achieving their aspirations. They are driven by volunteerism and we need to encourage more of that.”
There were few medical and community health services either. “Otara eventually had 20,000 people living in this ‘social desert’. Central government simply failed in its responsibility to provide essential facilities and services. So, we took up that role.” Colin led the effort after being appointed the city’s – and New Zealand’s – first community development manager in 1979. “We had a big hand in developing the philosophy of community development in local government. We worked very closely with other government agencies – health, education, community safety, economic development – and community organisations representing the ethnic diversity of Manukau. “We became renowned for developing innovative community, environmental and economic development policy.” In 1985 Colin was appointed city manager of Manukau City. Sir Barry later recalled what a nervous applicant he made. He needn’t have been: “All of us on the panel knew what
we were looking for – a person who understood community development.” Colin held the position for another 21 years before departing in 2006. During his farewell, Sir Barry described Colin as the best local government manager in the country and wagered that his then 50 years of public service was a record “unlikely to be repeated”. He was further recognised later with a Companion of the Order of New Zealand. Ten years on and Colin refuses to draw a line under that record. With his role as acting chief executive of Far North District Council drawing to a close, he admits he is looking forward to having more time with Billie and the wider family. Yet, the word ‘retirement’ clearly makes him uncomfortable. “I feel I’m still in a position to make a contribution, to share my experience in governance and community service and help people work together. In fact, I’ve already been approached by community trusts … Let’s just say I’m always happy to act as a mentor.” LG
Unfinished business Colin Dale clearly feels there is still work to be done. So what does he think about the current climate in local government? He fears the “local” may disappear from local government with central government becoming more interventionist. “I was saddened when legislation change removed local councils’ involvement in social, environmental, economic and cultural well-being. Local government has had its wings clipped and central government appears to regard councils as a vehicle focused on national objectives rather than community objectives.” He is concerned the emphasis seems to have swung to local government being focused on minimal services rather than wider community development. “Local government is about people and about community. That’s the bottom line.”
Colin describes his leadership style as inclusive and vision oriented – bringing people together, both elected members and staff is vital. In the Far North Colin has enjoyed working with a mayor and council that have encouraged community involvement. He says staff are more engaged with the council’s vision and work better across the organisation. Council is also working across boundaries; working more with neighbouring councils. “That was not happening previously and Northland innovation is being encouraged.” One example of that collaboration is an agreement between the Regional Council, and Whangarei, Kaipara and Far North districts to improve Northland’s road infrastructure together.
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STORMWATER
ON THE RIGHT COURSE Which stormwater project?
Auckland Council’s new stormwater project identification guidelines help set a clear direction for the future.
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uckland Council has resolved a series of inter-connected issues by working with consultants Morrison Low to create a set of stormwater project identification guidelines. The guidance document was developed to improve the success rate of stormwater capital projects and better align to council’s strategic objectives. Written for the internal stormwater practitioner, the document provides a common understanding on what projects will be accepted.
CHALLENGES In the initial five-year period of the newly-formed Auckland Council, stormwater capital projects of the legacy councils were mainly being implemented. The Healthy Waters Department (formerly known as the Stormwater Unit) wished to start implementing projects that better reflected the strategic direction of the new council.
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The department recognised it needed to improve the stormwater capital projects to ensure that they were aligned to the agreed levels of service as adopted in the 2015 Long Term Plan and their goal to make the significant shift to becoming a water sensitive community over time. A key challenge for the department was that some of the stormwater capital projects, as identified by the legacy councils, were over-specified and not aligned to the agreed levels of service. Also, there were not enough growth-driven stormwater projects coming through the project pipeline to be implemented. And pressure was being applied to focus project planning resources and investment on Auckland’s growth priority areas. It was important that a transparent and consistent approach was being applied across the department to identify the right projects with the right priorities.
SOLUTIONS
Takeaways In preparing the stormwater project identification guidelines, there were some valuable lessons learnt to share with other councils that may wish to develop similar guidelines: • Decide early on if the guidelines will cover just the “why” (ie, strategic fit and justification for investment) or the “how” (ie, the necessary process tasks and signs offs) or both. • Gauge and understand the sensitivity internally of the rejected projects to date. • Decide early on when to engage internally. Should you wait until you have a strawman for discussion purposes or gather internal feedback at the start? • Should it align with the New Zealand government’s Better Business Case Investment Process? • What are the existing project identification processes and tools? How will these guidelines complement them?
A guidance type document was identified as the most appropriate format to guide the internal stormwater practitioners on the key decision making steps to ensure projects were not mistakenly advanced unnecessarily. The focus was to provide guidance to key stormwater staff with sound business criteria to help with project scoping. Morrison Low’s stormwater asset management specialist worked in collaboration with the department’s teams to develop the guidelines to improve their stormwater project planning. Easy-to-use process maps and supporting notes were developed for the four investment programmes so the internal user knows what information is required for a project to be accepted to proceed and be implemented. Examples and enquiring questions were used throughout the document to provide prompts for the internal users. With this approach, it was clear on “what will fly and not fly”. For example, stream erosion projects in private watercourses only progressed where there was proven council liability. For future project planning, there is clarity of what is required for stormwater capital projects to be accepted at the onset. LG
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INFRASTRUCTURE
RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE Who pays?
Should we be having a much bigger, bolder debate about where people can live, work and play in a country vulnerable to natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes and rising sea levels? Four experts shared their views on the value and costs of resilient infrastructure at the IPWEA NZ conference earlier this year. Ruth Le Pla was there. kilometres upstream – the highest ever recorded. Mayor Annette Main says there’s now an urgent need for some hard decisions. These include the need to raise the level of the town’s urban stopbanks and replace stormwater pipes overwhelmed by the well-over one-in-100 year rainfall. Yet, as she points out, it simply isn’t realistic for a community of 45,000 to replace the whole network at a cost of millions or to immediately rebuild higher stopbanks. “We already have debt from our previous work to protect our industrial area.” Then there’s the not inconsiderable matter of who will ultimately fund a $40 million new wastewater plant needed
Whanganui River in flood.
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PHOTO: WANGANUI CHRONICLE.
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n June last year unpredicted rainfall and unprecedented high river levels devastated Whanganui. They caused the largest flood ever recorded in the town’s urban riverbank area and suburban hills. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes. Houses and businesses were inundated. Landslides took out dwellings and there were over 4000 slips on rural roads. The Whanganui River flowed over existing stopbanks at 11.30pm on June 20 and the next morning council deliberately breached a stopbank to release the trapped water. The river, which normally flows at just over one metre, peaked at almost 22 metres. And 4755m3 were recorded 50
to meet the area’s needs into the future. The plant is a vital building block for Whanganui’s future industrial and population growth. “The discussion with our community is yet to be had about where those costs will fall once it’s built.” Previous opposition to costs associated with protecting the town currently mean that while the industrial area is protected to a one-in-200 year level, the urban area is only protected to a 30-year level. Annette says it’s time for hard talk on “compelling” protection for communities to a level that protects against medium-sized events. It’s a conversation that needs to be had with central government, she says. “Because when people are able to be consulted about the cost of things – and they’re not used to seeing flood levels such as we had recently – it’s really easy for them to say no and override the opinions of a council.” In the post-flood clean-up, most homes in the flooded areas have been repaired and people have either returned home or moved on. “But others have bought damaged houses and rebuilt them, knowing the risks,” says Annette. “On the hills in our town, some may never return and face ongoing legal argument with EQC because in a place like Whanganui the relatively low value of the land means there’s no way people can repair the damage with what they’re offered.
“So in our community we feel for them but as a council there’s nothing we can do apart from help them gain some advice and work through the process.” Nor are private market signals helping resolve the longterm issue of where it’s wise, or best, for people to live, work or play. Annette says she had wanted to encourage people away from flood-prone areas “but they were able to get insurance and so stayed”.
JOIN THE DOTS Another IPWEA NZ conference speaker, barrister and solicitor Susan Thodey says that, on a nationwide scale, it’s time to join the dots between all interested parties and the issues. “There’s got to be a national policy developed that can lead to greater resilience in community structure.” For many years managing partner of Heaney & Partners, Susan now consults to the firm. She outlines two possible payment models for funding resilient infrastructure and their potential implications (see box story “Two scenarios”). For Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) chair Craig Stobo, the list of interested parties includes not just homeowners, businesses, insurers, and local and central government. He’d like to see a direct “technological thread from the natural hazard science community, through local and / or district councils to households”.
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INFRASTRUCTURE Perhaps delivered via an app on mobile phones, scientific information could help drive behavioural change by householders facing natural hazard risk. “Householders could see the potential risks from the sites of their households,” says Craig. “Or local authorities could see the potential risks from hazards for their infrastructure and could react accordingly.” At the moment many people are just “baffled”, he says. “It’s very hard for householders to react... We’re not using our science community effectively.”
Much data is currently held across a mix of public and private sector organisations – many engineering firms have hazard mapping abilities, for example. Craig is hopeful the private sector would eventually manage the flow of information via such an app, which would not be hard to acquire or build. Meanwhile, he calls for leadership from central and / or local government to set up ways to start funnelling public science information to communities. The insurance sector already has such mechanisms in place, notes Craig. “And the banking industry is starting to adjust mortgage interest payments with a premium for areas where they perceive there is agreement around natural hazard risk. “So the community is reacting but it’s very slow. Technology solutions will allow us to do that much faster and more directly in the future.” He adds the Commission for the Environment has already published maps of risk-prone areas. “The sooner they are picked up and used by insurers the better.”
From left: Susan Thodey (Heaney & Partners), Craig Stobo (Local Government Funding Agency), Annette Main (Mayor of Whanganui) & Jim Quinn (Auckland Council).
Two scenarios Susan Thodey is a barrister, solicitor and a consultant to Heaney & Partners. At the IPWEA NZ conference she put forward two propositions on payment models for resilient infrastructure. The following is an abridged version of her speech. SCENARIO 1: Individuals should be given the option to fund their own risk upfront. Local authorities are rightly nervous to allow development where individuals or a developer takes on the risk of loss. In New Zealand there seems to be a trend where the courts are not reluctant to make the decision for local or regional government, and allow development to proceed on the basis of certain conditions. A good example is a 2014 court decision concerning the development of land in the Mahia Peninsula which was the subject of ongoing coastal erosion. The owners of the land proposed they develop the land on a number of conditions. These included that a number of the new houses would be relocatable. Secondly, they would pay a bond in respect of each individual house to the concerned local council. In the event that the house needed to be removed at a later date, there were funds available for the local council to attend to that. In this instance the district council was very happy with the proposition but the regional council was not. The court identified that the core question they were being asked was whether it was reasonable to approve development on an erosion-prone piece of land by allowing applicants to take the risks associated with that development. The court said yes despite the fact that erosion may take place up
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to seven metres in front of the affected properties within a limited period of 20 years. I think it would be unwise of local or regional government to allow development to proceed without being extremely conservative in their approach. If there are any concerns at all it’s my proposition that they should return the matter back to the court. Unfortunately, there are no national policies or regulations that say yes or no. So the initial decision in New Zealand gets left with local and regional government. My experience of New Zealand society is that it’s human nature for individuals to take a risk at a given point in time. Yet when the loss arises five, 10, 20 years down the track – be it that they have suffered damage to their beachfront property or have had a loss on their return on investment – they blame regional decision-makers or the individual that may have given them the advice, such as the engineer. So it’s extremely important for anyone giving upfront advice to be particularly careful about whether they allow such development to take place. SCENARIO 2: Greater upfront consultation between local / central government and insurers. In New Zealand there is no accord or agreement, or indeed any real consultation, between those who are funding upfront – most likely local and central government – and those who pay at the end – the insurers. On top of this, the provision for insurance for residential properties, for example, is fairly complex and is different from any other model in existence in the world. As more natural events occur, insurers will start to dig deeper.
IN THE SAME TENT Similarly, Auckland Council chief of strategy Jim Quinn calls for a “deep and collaborative” approach to funding resilient infrastructure. “In the event of a natural disaster everybody tends to club around, he says. “If everybody’s in the tent on the way through when the decisions are made, the likelihood that everybody stumps up in a fair and equal way when an event occurs is more probable.” Practical steps include forming a single dataset, and agreeing on assumptions and risks. “If we don’t act in a collaborative way it’s easy for everybody who has a choice to walk away. Then it’s left to those who have nowhere to go to deal with the whole problem – and intuitively that’s council and central government. Meanwhile, many people expect the rate and severity of natural hazards to continue to worsen. If there are no mechanisms for directly linking the impact of area-wide disasters to specific decisions that community members make, local authorities will increasingly suffer from a Cassandra complex. They will have the blessing of being able to accurately predict upcoming crises and the curse of not being taken seriously by their communities. And the question will remain: who pays? LG
They will make a more detailed assessment of risk and we may find sections of our communities unable to secure insurance or pricing may be too high. A good example of how government and insurers might interact can be seen from experience in the UK. As long ago as 1950 there was a gentlemen’s agreement between government and insurers that balanced spending on flood protection against the ability and willingness of insurers to pay for damage following one-off events. The government promised to keep spending at a certain rate and the private insurance industry promised that, no matter what the risk, it would provide basic insurance to the owners of every property in the UK. So insurers in the UK effectively spread the risk across all policy holders. By about 2000 there had been a number of significant floods in the UK. The insurance industry issued a moratorium on the issuing of insurance for floods in certain areas in the UK and up to 25 percent of residential properties were affected. Insurers had perceived that central and local government were cutting back on infrastructure spending and attempting to move the burden of cost to the insurer. After a great deal of angst the government eventually had to bow to the demands of the insurance industry and reach a revised gentlemen’s agreement with them whereby there was a commitment to a greater taxpayer-funded spend. So if you are involved in the decision-making processes upfront, do not depend on an insurer coming along at a later date and paying for the damage that might have ensued from a natural event or disaster. There needs to be greater consultation between local government, central government and insurers upfront to stop issues arising later.
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LGNZ
LGNZ CONFERENCE
2016
Over 550 of the country’s mayors, chairs, councillors, CEs and senior officers gathered at the recent LGNZ Conference in Dunedin to mull over the big topics for the sector. Ruth Le Pla captures the highlights.
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lacemaking was the overriding theme of this year’s LGNZ conference. Many of the presentations and discussions circled around ideas on the best ways to lead change and build places for tomorrow where families and businesses can prosper. There was an especially keen interest in the sector’s working relationship with central government. Nowhere was this evinced as strongly as in comments around the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill on which a remit for further action by LGNZ was passed. (See article “Eight remits” below.)
EIGHT REMITS
The conference ended with president Lawrence Yule breaking the news that Local Government Minister the Hon Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga had agreed in talks at the conference to undertake some special measures. (See article “Ending on a high note”.) Meanwhile, four new reports – on the 2050 challenge, local government reorganisation, the resource management system, and legislation affecting the local government sector – outlined progress on work to date and signalled future directions. Read our summary of conference highlights on the following pages.
The local government sector voted on eight issues at the AGM. There was a strong focus on local democracy, community and health issues. These remits will now become official policy and be actioned by LGNZ.
effectively control the negative issues associated with freedom camping, and seek a working group of central and local government and the tourism industry to shape this as an urgent priority.
The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 2):
working party of LGNZ, the NZ Transport Agency, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Ministry of Health, iwi and other affected parties to be established to investigate the impact of dust from unsealed roads on human health.
The remit called on LGNZ to vigorously oppose any measure in the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill that directly or indirectly removes the requirement for community consultation, demonstrable community support and direct local authority involvement in reorganisation investigations and local decisionmaking of councils or their assets.
Community policing: LGNZ will advocate for an increase in police resourcing to ensure adequate police staffing and coverage can be provided to New Zealand communities, and that police commanders are not forced to compromise community policing due to budget constraints.
Minimum standards for rental housing: LGNZ will engage with the government on ways to strengthen the minimum standards for rental housing to ensure that all rental homes are warm, dry and healthy to live in.
Freedom camping: New Zealand’s South Island councils called for changes to legislation to enable local government to more
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Impact of dust on sealed roads: Several councils called for a
Preservation of earthquake-prone public heritage buildings: LGNZ will advocate to the government to set up a fund to provide assistance to local communities to preserve their heritage buildings.
Relocation of government services to regional centres: LGNZ will explore the potential benefits to regional New Zealand of relocating more government services in the regions. This remit also asks that the government looks at ways to increase the ability for more civil servants to work remotely from regions outside Wellington.
Beverage container deposit system: LGNZ is to endorse the concept of a national-mandated beverage container deposit system, and request that the government requires industry to develop and implement this within a two-year period.
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1. Lawrence Yule, President, LGNZ 2. Jason Krupp, The New Zealand Initiative 3. Hon Louise Upston 4. Rt Hon John Key, Prime Minister 5. Jonathan Salter, Simpson Grierson 6. Hon Peseta Sam Loti-Iiga 7. Cr Ana Coffey, Porirua and Cr Aaron Hawkins, Dunedin 8. Mayors and chairs
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LGNZ 2050 Challenge LGNZ released its 2050 Challenge: future proofing our communities discussion paper. The 2050 Challenge aims to identify major shifts taking place in New Zealand to better understand the implications for local and central government over the next 30 years. The initiative was sparked by the Young Elected Members committee of New Zealand councillors. Work done by LGNZ so far has grouped the challenges into five major themes – urbanisation, liveable cities and changing demographics; stewardship of our natural environment; responding to climate change; equality and cohesion; and the future of work. Young Elected Members co-chair Ana Coffey, deputy mayor of Porirua City Council, says the 2050 Challenge doesn’t provide all the answers but asks the right questions and gives everyone the opportunity to be involved in future planning. Download the full paper from bit. ly/2050_Challenge
Is bigger better? On-the-ground research from Manchester in the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Montreal, Canada informs a new report on local government reorganisations. Released at the LGNZ conference, The Local Benchmark: When smaller is better examines what the right size for local government in New Zealand may be. The Local Benchmark is the product of public policy think tank, the New Zealand Initiative. Research fellow Jason Krupp says with central government about to table legislation that would allow greater amalgamation of local authorities in this country, the report makes the case that bigger is not always better when it comes to local government reorganisations. The report’s five key findings are: • Highly centralised governance arrangements are not necessary for local, regional and national economic efficiency. Some of the world’s most competitive economies use highly localised forms of government. • Competition between local authorities is likely to heighten yardstick comparisons between jurisdictions and increase pressure on municipalities to provide services more cost effectively. • Effective local governance arrangements follow the principle of subsidiarity, such that local level tasks are best handled by local authorities, and regional level tasks by regional authorities. • The track record on major metropolitan amalgamations suggests unitary authorities do not necessarily deliver cost or operating efficiencies, and often increase a city’s running costs. • Jurisdictions looking to persuade central government to devolve decision-making power need to do so from a sound economic evidence base, and have a proven track record of sound local governance. Jason cites Switzerland as a leading example of localism in practice. “With a governance structure of over 2000 communes, 26 cantons (provinces) and a federal government, it would appear to some to be a case of too much governance for a country of eight million people,” he says. “Yet Switzerland has been ranked as the most competitive economy for the last seven years by the World Economic Forum. By comparison, the UK is ranked 10th and New Zealand was ranked 17th in 2014.” Jason attributes much of Switzerland’s competitiveness to inter-jurisdictional competition, with local authorities afforded significant freedom over policy, revenue raising and spending decisions within their jurisdictions. Download the full paper from bit.ly/TheLocalBenchmark
New life members Colin Dale, Sir Bob Harvey and Sir Barry Curtis were awarded LGNZ life memberships in recognition of their longstanding contributions to local government. They join existing life members Geoff Geering, Kerry Marshall, Don Riesterer and Basil Morrison. See our profile of Colin Dale on page 22 of this issue.
Keynote speaker: Troy Pickard, president of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA)
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Colin Dale
Sir Bob Harvey
Sir Barry Curtis
Resource management system
New report on legislation
LGNZ unveiled “Planning our future”, an eight-point programme designed to address important issues with New Zealand’s resource management system. The programme proposes the creation of a resource management system with an emphasis on early decision-making and placing greater value on natural eco-systems. It aims to promote discussion about what would best suit the country’s needs in the coming decades. President Lawrence Yule says LGNZ is making the case for comprehensive reform to address pressing issues with the system. These include lack of integration across key planning statutes, and the need for a stronger strategic connection between central and local government. “We have also proposed more challenging reform that requires a different way of thinking about and valuing our environment and natural resources, which will mean we are better placed to deal with the big challenges that lie ahead,” he says. The action plan was developed following a review of the current system by a “blue skies” reference group chaired by Otago Regional Council chair Stephen Woodhead, who is also chair of LGNZ’s Regional Sector and its Environmental Policy Advisory Group. LGNZ released the discussion document in December last year. Download a copy of the Planning our future report from bit.ly/PlanningOurFuture.
Simpson Grierson partner Jonathan Salter released a new LGNZcommissioned report looking at three key pieces of legislation affecting the local government sector. The statutory framework of New Zealand’s local government sector: is the key legislation working properly? examines interrelationships between the Local Government Act 2002, the Resource Management Act 1991 and the Land Transport Management Act 2003. The report’s six key findings are: • Overall, the statutory framework is not broken but simply worse for wear. • The three statutes were originally well aligned. • Amendments have eroded the alignment. • Recent legislative amendments have focused on economic efficiency at the expense of local democracy. • Recent legislative change has been somewhat hasty. • A focus on less haste and more coherence would be beneficial. The report suggests the core Acts could be administered by a single agency instead of the three disparate agencies at present: the Department of Internal Affairs; the Ministry for the Environment; and the Ministry of Transport. Read the full report on bit.ly/StatutoryFramework.
Partnering with iwi Ta Mark Solomon says councils and councillors need to realise that iwi resources are stretched. Ta Mark, the elected kaiwhakahaere of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, says this is particularly the case in some rural areas where a small number of people are already fulfilling many different roles. “But that doesn’t mean we are happy for others to make decisions without us,” he says. He calls for local government to continue to consult with iwi. “The aspiration of our people in the regions is always to take the relationship with local government that one step further. To quote one of our regional leaders – to always be in a partnership rather than a relationship.” He says he is disappointed that the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management only talks about involving tangata whenua, rather than working in partnership with them. “For Ngai
Ending on a high note Right at the end of the conference, LGNZ president Lawrence Yule announced that Minister for Local Government Hon Peseta Sam Loti-Iiga has agreed to write to the select committee considering the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill. He says the minister has invited committee members and their officials “to meet with LGNZ to work through the areas of disagreement we have and the technical issues to see if we can find a solution”. LG
Tahu this involvement is a bare minimum.” Asked whether local government could do more to enhance its treaty partnership with iwi, he calls on local authorities to have a relationship with iwi. “We’re not the enemy. We’re you. We’re the community,” he says. “You just have to look at me. I’m Ta Mark Solomon English / Danish on my mother’s side and Maori on my father’s.” He says that local government, iwi and people from other ethnic backgrounds are not that far apart. “We’ve got to stop this nonsense about being divided and come together as a community.”
NOTE FOR YOUR DIARY The 2017 LGNZ conference will be held in Auckland from July 23 to 25. SEPTEMBER 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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2016 LGNZ EXCELLENCE AWARDS
AWARDING EXCELLENCE The finalists
The 2016 LGNZ EXCELLENCE Awards showcase some of the best work in local government. In the last isuue we covered the winners. Now we profile the finalists.
FULTON HOGAN EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FINALIST
FINALIST
Central Otago District Council – Young Driver Programme: Skills not Thrills
Environment Southland – Towards a new plan: Water and land
Central Otago District Council’s innovative safe driving programme aims to reduce the number of serious injury and fatal crashes involving young drivers. The scheme was launched in 2013 following evidence from the New Zealand Transport Agency’s Communities at Risk register showing young drivers aged 16 to 25 years of age were over-represented in crashes in the district.
The young drivers’ skills programme was developed under the guidance of Central Otago District Council’s community road safety advisor along with a qualified driving instructor and a cohort of Central Otago groups which provided a range of resources. These included vehicles, instructors and the venue – Highlands Motorsport Park. The programme aims to encourage and reward safe and skilled driving, with an underlying target of reducing deaths and serious injuries on Central Otago roads. It has been promoted through employers, newspaper and radio advertising, and social media, with a target of 24 young drivers participating each year. Council staff have featured among the pool of volunteer helpers and some young council staff members have also taken the course. Police are among agencies involved, providing an opportunity for positive community interaction in a relaxed atmosphere. Between 2010 and 2012 the district recorded an increasing number of fatal and serious injury crashes involving young drivers, with five fatal crashes and 21 serious injury crashes. In the 2013-2015 period there has been a 40 percent reduction in fatal crashes and a 19 percent decrease in serious injury crashes. Judges praised the initiative as a “good, practical response to a local problem, led by the council and involving local stakeholders”.
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Environment Southland took an innovative approach to engaging its community in developing a new water and land plan, seeking ideas and feedback to ensure the plan was practical. This engagement process, Towards a New Plan – Water and Land, is one of the key steps in Environment Southland’s overarching Water and Land 2020 and Beyond project. The council is working to address Southland’s water quality and quantity issues, while also meeting government directives under the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. It wanted to be sure the plan not only had the buy-in of its community but was informed by the knowledge and understanding held by community members themselves. Research has identified certain on-farm activities are impacting water quality in some areas. Rules are being developed to address this and further promote good management practices. The council was keen to test ideas and potential solutions with communities and gain ideas and feedback on what measures would be practical and workable. The engagement document outlined Southland’s water issues, discussed good management practices and asked for feedback on different activities. The process included 12 drop-in sessions across the region, each attracting between 40 and 80 people, with attendees invited to write comments or ideas on post-it notes, and two live Facebook Q&A sessions. The process resulted in more than 200 feedback forms, about 50 online responses and hundreds of post-it note ideas. Overall, it gained community buy-in and ownership for suggested solutions with the community now actively seeking to be involved in the upcoming catchment limit-setting process. Judges commented that with freshwater policy a big issue for councils, “Southland has taken an important approach to getting community buy-in to a plan for the allocation and quality of fresh water in the region.”
FULTON HOGAN EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FINALIST
Greater Wellington Regional Council – Hutt River City Centre Upgrade Project Greater Wellington Regional Council’s intensive community engagement programme enabled the Hutt City community to make a “brave” decision about flood prevention. The Hutt River City Centre Upgrade Project was led by the council’s flood protection team. The aim of the project is to protect Hutt City’s CBD from flooding both now and, assuming climate change, into the foreseeable future. It includes replacement of the Melling Bridge, reorganisation of CBD transport access and inner city rejuvenation. The project includes the Greater Wellington Regional Council, Hutt City Council and the NZ Transport Agency working together to deliver broad-based benefits to the Hutt community. Stage one of the project involved identifying a broad range of flood protection and associated transport and city rejuvenation options, refining them against strict criteria and consulting with the Hutt community on two preferred options. This consultation included print and online engagement, public meetings and community events, with the public asked to “make a brave decision: whether to take a less intrusive but less effective flood protection option or sacrifice 117 properties for a more durable solution”. The extensive public conversation led to the more effective and durable option being selected, even though this involves considerable community dislocation.
As a result of the council’s “have a say” campaign, significant community support was achieved, enabling the council to get community consensus on its flood control plans. The decision could be taken based on a platform of awareness of the issues involved and an extensive conversation with and within the community. Judges praised the comprehensive programme, approach to sensitive issues and the importance of the scheme to the economic future of the Hutt Valley, noting: “It was undertaken in a manner that engaged, involved and sought the views of people directly affected by the project.”
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Thames-Coromandel District Council – WWI Memorial Forest Thames-Coromandel District Council’s WWI Memorial Forest, planted to pay tribute to New Zealanders killed in the war, has already seen eight sites established with about 3000 native trees, with a further 5000 to be planted this year. Each site pays tribute to men killed in a different battle or from a specific area of the Coromandel. The aim is to provide an enduring focus to remember the war, as well as providing a series of forests that will increase biodiversity, provide environmental education for local schoolchildren and be a focal point for community involvement. The council’s community boards have been closely involved with choosing sites, driving tree-planting projects and coordinating volunteers, and have partnered with volunteer groups and schools on ‘planting bees’. Donations help cover the costs of planting and upkeep of trees, and donors receive a memorial certificate with a soldier’s name and GPS coordinates for the tree. This has helped foster a sense of community ownership with many local donors. The forest will add to the area’s tourism offering, with several sites on or near popular walking tracks. It will also be connected to the council’s Great Walks project. The native trees have been chosen
according to each site’s specific soil type and landscape. The project aims to enhance the region’s unique heritage and the Coromandel’s environmental values – key drivers in local communities – while raising awareness of its unique biodiversity. It fits in with other work the council is undertaking to protect and extend the natural environment, such as kauri dieback education. Judges praised the “significant engagement with organisations, individuals and community boards – involving multiple sectors” and said the forest should have measurable impact for the community, and to the economy, through increased visitor numbers. SEPTEMBER 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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2016 LGNZ EXCELLENCE AWARDS FULTON HOGAN EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FINALIST
Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (Waikato Regional Council) – Civil Defence Social Media Strategys The Waikato Civil Defence Management Group developed a unique and humorous approach that delivered education and entertainment as well as official warnings and significantly increased its social media presence. Over the past year the group has grown its audience by over 1500 percent and its approach has attracted recognition from the wider civil defence sector, national and international media, and large organisations. The Waikato Civil Defence Management Group represents the 11 councils of the Waikato region – Hamilton City, Waikato District, Waipa District, Otorohanga District, Waitomo District, Matamata-Piako District, Hauraki District, Thames-Coromandel District, South Waikato District, Taupo District and Waikato Regional Council. Rumours and sensationalised information are easily accessed through social media channels. The group wants communities to see credible information that will help keep them safe first. In order to ensure that Civil Defence was the first point of contact for people seeking emergency information, it needed to build and engage its audience during times when there was no emergency. This was not being achieved using a traditional approach to social media. The innovative strategy was developed to engage communities in
civil defence emergency management through social media by using original, educational and informative content. Such was its success that within eight months of the launch of the strategy, Civil Defence’s Facebook following had grown from 800 to 13,400 and its Twitter following from 250 to 2100. It had also reached up to 250,000 people with a single Facebook post and made Civil Defence the first point of call for emergency information. Judges praised the strategy as “a good example of a council department taking innovative and interesting approaches to engage with its communities”.
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Whangarei District Council – Summer Safe Car Parks Whangarei District Council’s successful Summer Safe Car Parks volunteer programme to reduce thefts in car parks is believed to be the first of its kind in New Zealand. The scheme has run for the past six years. It works by recruiting and supporting volunteer local ambassadors to patrol ‘Summer Safe Car Parks’ at visitor destinations during weekends and statutory holidays from the beginning of December to Easter. The programme empowers local communities to exercise kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and manaakitanga (hospitality), ensuring visitors have a safe and enjoyable experience. Ambassadors wear high-vis vests and encourage personal and property safety among visitors through a highly effective “Hide It-Lock It-Report-It” campaign. They also work with the Cancer Society to promote the SunSmart message and provide a welcoming informative service for visitors. The project has reduced theft from vehicles in tourist destinations across the district – and boosted the number of people using the car parks. No vehicles have been broken into or stolen in car parks when ambassadors have been on patrol. The council engaged with communities to encourage people to become local ambassadors. A volunteer coordinator maintains close
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contact, making regular weekly visits to ambassadors and maintaining daily phone contact. At the end of each season volunteers are presented with a certificate of appreciation and their services recognised by the mayor of Whangarei and the Whangarei Police area commander at a special reception in their honour. Judges praised the scheme for its “strong collaborative relationships and use of volunteers” and said it was a model other councils could follow countrywide.
MARTINJENKINS EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR BEST PRACTICE CONTRIBUTION TO LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
FINALIST
Whanganui District Council – Digital Leadership: Whanganui’s commitment to the benchmarking for Intelligent Community Status Whanganui has firmly established its place on the international digital map, rated as one of the world’s top Intelligent Communities. Much of this has been driven by Whanganui District Council’s strategy, Digital Leadership – Whanganui’s commitment to the benchmarking for Intelligent Community Status project. The programme, adopted in 2010 to use the digital revolution as an economic development tool, was inspired by Whanganui-born Sir Paul Callaghan and his drive to see New Zealand compete on a world stage in ways that are clever and innovative. The council recognised early that access to quality digital infrastructure was an important means of increasing learning and social outcomes and addressing the socio-economic issues faced by smaller New Zealand communities. It sought an early ultrafast broadband build in its urban area. This was completed in 2015 with the aim of positioning the city as a choice, outside of large urban centres, where business, education and lifestyle can benefit from the digital infrastructure available. The success of this initiative was underlined in 2013 when the council applied to the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum for the strategy to be benchmarked against an internationally recognised set of criteria and around 400 other communities from around the globe. As a result, Whanganui has been recognised as one of the world’s top 21 intelligent communities each year since 2013 and this year was selected as a Top7 Intelligent Community – alongside Taiwan’s Hsinchu and New Taipei cities, Montreal, Winnipeg, Surrey in British Colombia and Muelheim an der Ruhr in Germany, Judges said the council’s successful application to be benchmarked had brought international recognition and “gives the city a comparative advantage for promotion and industries using new technologies”. SEPTEMBER 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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2016 LGNZ EXCELLENCE AWARDS MARTINJENKINS EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR BEST PRACTICE CONTRIBUTION TO LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FINALIST
Grey District Council – Grey District Community Economic Development Strategy Following a perfect storm of negative external influences, the Grey District Community Economic Development Strategy was developed to unite community stakeholders, working together to build a selfreliant, sustainable and competitive future. Judges hailed the outcome as a process based on international research and best practice. In recent years the district has seen hundreds of jobs lost and many families forced to leave the West Coast following closure of the Spring Creek coal mine. Greymouth’s central business district was considered ‘tired and worn down’ with businesses faltering and several buildings identified as earthquake prone. Tourism was hit by the Christchurch earthquakes and the community was concerned about outside perceptions of the West Coast as isolated, with poor weather and lack of career opportunities. In 2012 the council pulled together its Economic Development Liaison Group (EDLG), a group of key economic partners, including representatives from many local, regional and national organisations, community groups, education providers, businesses, industry and the wider community, to help guide the Grey District’s economic future over the next 10 years.
Network groups were also established and led by members of the community to define the issues faced by the community, with actions and projects identified to address these. The resulting strategy focuses on the Grey District and wider West Coast region, to enable the formation of partnerships and draws on the local assets and skills of its people. It has been designed as a multi-faceted approach to leverage resources available to enhance the district’s business, industry and economic growth performance. It aims to encourage structural change and diversification that will make the local economy more sustainable and competitive, encourage social progress and improve quality of life by providing better community facilities and services.
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Canterbury Mayoral Forum – Canterbury Regional Economic Development Strategy (CREDS) The Canterbury Mayoral Forum’s innovative strategy to develop the Canterbury Regional Economic Development Strategy (CREDS) sees lead mayors directing seven work programmes with a mandate to provide leadership across the entire region. The project marks the first time a region has committed to work together on such a range of issues. Judges praised it as “an innovative and strategic project”, and highlighted the strong leadership by mayors. The CREDS project saw mayors and chief executives of the 11 Canterbury councils collaborate to develop and implement the strategy to lead economic development and position the region for long-term sustainable growth. Key drivers are: Positioning the region’s economy for when the rebuild is substantially complete and construction-related economy and employment tail off; and Securing the future and viability of the region’s communities, given an aging population and projected low rates of population growth in most districts. The guiding 20-year vision is for a “region making the most of its natural advantages to build a strong, innovative economy with
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resilient, connected communities and a better way of life for all”. Early achievements include private sector investment of $14 million, brought forward in an accelerated roll out of 4G mobile, and tertiary education and training providers working differently together to develop new and collaborative courses. Information and resources have been shared to support newcomer and migrant settlement. Transport agencies have agreed to share data and analysis – supporting integrated regional transport planning, and a network of industry leaders has been initiated. Work is also underway with the Chinese Consul-General, Christchurch Airport and tourism organisations to “get ready for China”. The Forum has also developed two companion action plans, with rationale: A Canterbury Digital Strategy 2016 and A Canterbury Visitor Strategy 2016.
CREATIVE NEW ZEALAND EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR BEST CREATIVE PLACE FINALIST
Napier City Council – Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans Napier’s collaboration with global “artivism” organisation the Pangeaseed Foundation saw New Zealand’s first ever Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans festival hosted by the city in March this year. The festival, previously run in Los Angeles, Vietnam, Mexico and Sri Lanka, brings together renowned street artists from New Zealand and around the world to paint about relevant issues facing our shores and oceans. It resulted in 33 large-scale murals in the Napier CBD and Ahuriri. The project was praised by judges for the creativity and excellence of the idea and its successful delivery. The council worked with the foundation to support the project, an innovative event for New Zealand, successfully delivering a worldclass festival which saw public places enhanced and educated audiences about marine environmental issues. The festival is customised for each city in which it is held. A total of 29 internationally-renowned artists took part in Napier. Sponsorship was secured to cover all festival costs and the council worked with tourism, arts, education, business and industry, as well as volunteers, to ensure its success.
Events included live painting at a night fiesta, artist discussions, guided walks and treks to learn about inland waterways and film festival screenings for World Ocean Day. Artists were immersed in the local environment through cultural excursions and activities so they could really paint with local messages in mind. Artists made contact with local iwi to ensure their stories were embodied in the artworks, with nine of the 33 sea walls having Maori themes and messages.
FINALIST
Rotorua Lakes Council – Percent-for-Arts Rotorua Lakes Council’s innovative Percent-for-Arts policy has contributed strongly to the inner city’s revitalisation, with artworks now featuring prominently in the inner city as well as in parks, shopping centres and other community facilities. Launched in 2013, the programme allocates an art component of the council’s budget for the design of all capital works projects – with one percent of its infrastructure budget spent on art and design. Judges praised the “council’s commitment to an innovative way of funding arts and culture in the region”. The council adopted a public art policy in 2012 requiring the inclusion of art as an integral component of the design and budget of a capital works project. However, there were no set budget parameters, resulting in scope uncertainty and an ad hoc approach. Implementation of the Percent-for-Arts policy allows for one percent of annual capital expenditure to be ring-fenced and invested in public art development and urban and suburban infrastructural enhancement. This provides a level of commitment to art inclusion in capital projects from design stage onwards – and ensures creative opportunities are not overlooked. As well as its contribution to the inner city revitalisation, the fund has helped establish and encourage partnerships between council, stakeholders and community outside the CBD to breathe fresh life, pride and ownership into parks, shopping centres and other community facilities.
Wider opportunities have been created for community expression, development of a raised sense of cultural identity and enhanced tourism potential. The policy aims to strengthen the council’s commitment to developing a built and natural environment, enhanced by artistic elements which reflect the culture, diversity, history and spirit of Rotorua. LG
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www.localgovernmentmag.co.nz Go to our website for related articles. Search: LGNZ EXCELLENCE Awards
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SPECIAL FEATURE
F O E R U T U F E H T
Waste management RECYCLED OR RUBBISHED
The contents of rubbish bins have never been so closely inspected. Mary Bell outlines councils’ important leadership role in waste minimisation.
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ong gone are the days of tossing out anything and everything unwanted. Today, household trash is divided into recyclables, organic waste and rubbish, and, in the future, this will be encouraged even more. In an ideal world very little would end up at landfill – household gardens would thrive on composted organic materials, everything that could be reused or recycled would find its way into the hands of someone who could do just that, and very little would be left in what has traditionally been the rubbish bin. However, as idyllic as this picture is, it has a number of
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big impediments to achieving it – namely, the money to put all this in place and the necessary behavioural changes in the public. Traditionally, waste collection and disposal has been in the hands of the local council, but changes over the past 20 years have seen increasing privatisation of services. As Paul Evans, CEO of WasteMINZ says, “In some areas the private sector may be competing with council funded collections and, in the most extreme instances, councils have opted to leave service provision entirely to the private sector.” If that is the case, should local authorities really be
Images: Wikipedia.
interested in the contents of their ratepayers’ rubbish bins? Well, yes. “Under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008, councils are responsible for developing waste management and minimisation plans [WMMPs] for their jurisdiction, whether they control the waste stream or not,” says Paul. “If councils are to truly address their obligations under the WMA and make a substantive difference to waste minimisation, they must look at the waste market in its entirety and how they can influence this more effectively.” Paul sees this issue of how to effectively influence waste outside the direct control of local government as a key issue facing councils. He says there is a fine balance between councils fulfilling their legislative role and ensuring locally appropriate outcomes, whilst not impeding the provision of cost effective and innovative commercial services. “Having a robust and effective dialogue with waste producers, and the community and private sectors is essential,” he says. “Council, the community sector and commercial industry need to work collaboratively. “Currently, ratepayers are essentially lumped with the cost of effective recycling or recovery, whilst many of those involved in the life of the product are absolved of responsibility. This current model provides no real incentive for industry at large to reduce the amount of waste materials produced.” Along with funding the disposal of waste, there are cost implications around carbon charging and emissions trading
on waste disposal. Whichever way you look at it, one key word keeps cropping up: cost. Who pays, how much they pay and what they pay for is something that local authorities have to work out. Historically, rates have been used to fund rubbish collection and disposal. These days more councils are opting for a ‘pay per throw’ approach to waste, which is priced to promote waste minimisation, says Paul, while recycling services are, for the most part, still rates funded. As Peter Askey, principal environmental engineer at Opus International Consultants, says, in the next 10 years local authorities will need to consider the “higher costs of providing service, through costs around methane emissions and fossil fuels”. Over the next decade he expects to see an increasing emphasis on materials recovery from the waste stream and removal of materials at source, as we are seeing with food waste – local authorities “providing more and more diverse collection and separation facilities and services”. “Challenges in addressing these issues will be primarily those of funding, in that cost of service provision will increase, most probably without commensurate increase in funding from central government,” he told Local Government Magazine. Chris Purchas of Tonkin & Taylor says in the next 10 years we can expect to see some councils exit waste service provision, while others become more involved. “For example, Auckland Council is moving to taking a stronger lead role in household waste management through collections. Councils without [landfill] disposal infrastructure will struggle to influence commercial and industrial waste management to any great degree,” he says. He also cites a “lack of clear direction from central government” as a challenge facing local government. This could be overcome by local government coordinating “more effectively to form a common view on identifying and managing risks and best (appropriate) practice,” he says. He also recommends councils identify the potential impacts of various policy settings on cost and risk. John Cocks of MWH Global says the increased emission unit cost under the Emissions Trading Scheme and associated increase in cost of waste disposal will lead to increased fly tipping and costlier landfill contracts. He says councils will need to influence people’s behaviour to minimise waste. He also points out that a ‘one service suits all’ approach will need to change to different approaches in different communities. John believes local authorities will need to “review funding methods to shift the financial load from residents, particularly in smaller communities; pay careful attention to procurement of services, support community groups and initiatives; and show strong and well-promoted leadership”. Our experts agree that councils have a strong leadership role to play in waste minimisation. It seems likely the future will see councils focusing more on policy and planning, with a strong emphasis on waste reduction and behavioural change. LG
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ENVIRONMENT
TIME & TIDE The blue & the green King tide Bucklands Beach, March, 2015.
Diversity, inundation maps, sea walls, leadership and liabilities. When it comes to protecting our foreshores, council parks teams have their hands full. Ruth Le Pla reports on their complex work in an age of climate change.
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uckland Council’s Ian Maxwell has appealed to councils to look for new ways to engage a wider variety of community members in climate change and environmental protection initiatives. Ian is Auckland Council’s director of community services – a unit which brings together council’s parks, libraries and community development activities. Speaking at the New Zealand Recreation Association Coastal Parks and Climate Change seminar earlier this year, he praised the King Tides Auckland movement as a “great” community initiative. Part of the global King Tides movement, King Tides Auckland identifies when unusually high (king) tides will occur and encourages people to take and share photos of the events. “Sometimes it’s hard to grasp what climate change is but sea level rise is more tangible,” says Ian. “You can turn up at a king tide and see what an extra half metre of tide might look like and do. It makes climate change real.” The snag is, like many of council’s own climate change and environmental protection initiatives, the movement “almost always” attracts disproportionate numbers of European people. Very few young Polynesians are involved, for example, he says. “So in a city like Auckland where people of European
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descent make up 50 percent or less of the population, we’re not quite hitting the mark,” Ian says. “We need to pick up the concept of diversity in all of this.” Among its own initiatives, Auckland Council is in the early stages of rolling out a series of localised coastal plans. Ian acknowledged work to date had been “a bit hit and miss”. “We have tended to react to things that were occurring as opposed to working on a more comprehensive basis.” The plans will look at managing possible sea level rise in specific neighbourhoods identifying options for hard or soft defences or managed retreat. Council will focus on relatively small chunks of area that are already struggling with erosion and have the greatest perceived need. There is no one-size plan to fit all places. “So if you live in Orewa, for example, or Muriwai or Takapuna, there will be a coastal plan for you.”
INUNDATION MAPS Auckland Council is also looking at publishing easilyaccessible storm inundation maps. Ian says it’s already possible to get hold of this type of information but council is trying to help make data more readily accessible to people who may not be out looking for it on a regular basis.
Image courtesy of: Ben Sheeran.
Four headaches for Auckland 1 LANDFILL One month this year we had the biggest dumping to landfill that we’ve ever had in the history of Auckland. We’re not winning the battle. There’s a huge difference between an objective around zero waste and the practicality. Auckland Council is making an impact but that’s being overshadowed by the growth in our city. The amount of construction material going into our landfills is enormous at the moment. 2 INTENSIFICATION The debate about intensification is probably the biggest thing that we can do as a city in terms of mitigating climate change. At the moment Auckland houses about 35 percent of our country’s population. We are heading to housing over 40 percent. 3 FUNDING We still have an issue about ad hoc funding. We can respond to a particular issue in Orewa or at Maraetai, for example. But I can’t say we’ve got a planned approach. We don’t have a plan and money for the next 15 years, for example. That’s where we’re heading but we’re not there yet. 4 MANAGED RETREAT We’ve still got debate about managed retreat. At Brown’s Bay, for example, the land is quite low-lying. So if the sea were to rise by 1.5 metres it would go inland by about a kilometre right through the town centre. How would you manage that? Managed retreat in a heavily urbanised environment may not be a realistic option but the alternative may be to put a solid wall in front of a beach that people love. Source: Auckland Council’s director of community services Ian Maxwell, speaking at the New Zealand Recreation Association Coastal Parks and Climate Change seminar.
“We haven’t cracked this yet,” he says. “So if have any great ideas on ways of working with different communities on these sorts of technical issues, please let us know. We’d be really pleased to hear about them. “Particularly given the diverse population in Auckland we need to adapt as an organisation. Otherwise a lot of the work we do becomes increasingly irrelevant to an increasingly large proportion of our population.”
OPPORTUNITIES Ian also notes that while most people who work in councils’ parks departments believe in the science of climate change, they have to work alongside colleagues who may not share their views. “For that reason they can often take on a real leadership role on responding to climate change issues within councils.” He adds that in many cities council parks often have to play a defensive role between the built environment and the sea. Many people’s first reaction is to demand a sea wall is built. “It takes a lot of time and effort to get them to understand the benefits of soft defences. We’ve got some examples around the Manukau Harbour and Orewa where we’ve managed to get to that point. But in other places we’ve haven’t managed to convince people of the benefits of soft defences. “People often see their local beach as a very important part of their local community’s character. People look to council to respond when their local beach is being eroded and yet we know shipping in sand is not a long-term answer.”
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ENVIRONMENT LIABILITY
This is what I encourage people in other councils to do. (Ian Maxwell: Auckland Council’s director of community services.) • Accept climate change science. If other people in your council don’t believe in the science, get them to go out and look at king tides. People know the seasons are changing and that plants are behaving differently to how they used to. Use that kind of information to get people over the line. • You, and the organisations you work for, can make a difference. So don’t wait for a great integrated programme or an absolutely nailed-down policy. You may not be able to control the intensity of your urban area or utilisation of public transport but you can control things in your area. So start there. • Keep pushing boundaries. Take a bit of a risk. Have a go. And keep going.
King tide Bucklands Beach, March, 2015.
He advises council officers to look into the updated health and safety legislation around any potential danger from trees in parks and public places and who may be liable in case of an accident. And he raises the question of liability and compensation if cliff-top houses were to be threatened by rising sea levels. “Auckland is a coastal city. If you look at cliff-top houses with sea views between Milford and Takapuna it’s probably hard to find a house worth less than $8 million. So what happens if the cliffs start eroding – or if the houses start falling into the sea? “In general we think that’s just a natural occurrence so the council’s not liable. I think that’s probably true. But I guarantee that will be tested in court and if we’re proved wrong – if we happen to have an esplanade reserve or some sort of reserve between the property and the sea – and the danger, or threat, is coming through your [council-owned] reserve and on to the private property causing damage there’s going to be debate taking place. “That hasn’t happened yet to any great degree that I’m aware of... but it will be on the horizon in a few years’ time.” Ian advises other councils to think about such issues now. “That may affect the rationale for investment now if there’s a possibility of liability for your organisation later.” LG
King tide Milford Beach, October, 2015.
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Images courtesy of: Ben Sheeran.
Pointers for change
TECHNICAL BRIEFINGS Continuing our series of technical briefings, we highlight a selection of papers presented at the IPWEA NZ annual conference in Auckland recently.
NATIONAL POLICY STATEMENT FOR FRESHWATER MANAGEMENT 2014 – KEY IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CONSENTING OF MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER DISCHARGES Garrett Hall & Chris Scrafton (both from MWH Global)
ABSTRACT The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 (NPS-FM) recognises the importance of freshwater resources and sets out to provide a national direction through the management of freshwater bodies across regions. A key aspect of the NPS-FM is the change required to the RMA planning framework to allow each region to implement the NPS-FM by 2025. However, recent Environment Court decisions have highlighted that the NPS-FM will have significant consequences for the consenting of treated wastewater discharges to freshwater and land. The full paper reflects on recent decisions in terms of key aspects of the NPS-FM for discharges of municipal wastewater including: • Objective A2 ‘the overall quality of freshwater is maintained or improved’; • Objective A2 ‘improving the quality of freshwater in water bodies that have been degraded by human activities and to the point of being over-allocated’; and • Definition of ‘water quality’ versus ecological effects. Many of these concepts, in terms of improving freshwater quality and ‘over-allocation’, cause difficulty when considering the process of obtaining consents for the discharge of treated wastewater. The paper traverses the implications of these aspects of the NPS-FM, from a planning and scientific perspective, for local authorities when obtaining new discharge consents and the need for adaptive and innovative approaches. LG
Karangahake River.
PRESENTER PROFILES Garrett Hall is principal environmental consultant, and Chris Scrafton, principal planner, both at MWH Global (now part of Stantec), Auckland.
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www.localgovernmentmag.co.nz Go to our website for the full paper. Search: bit.ly/NPS_Freshwater
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TECHNICAL BRIEFINGS
IS CHEAP REAL VALUE? This paper won the 2016 Hynds Paper of the Year at the IPWEA NZ conference in Auckland recently.
Tony Harrison & Carey Morris (both from GHD New Zealand)
ABSTRACT After less than desirable contract delivery for many years and the premature end of the latest contract caused by unsustainable pricing on their network maintenance contract, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council (CHBDC) decided to take a fresh look at how they procured this major component of their business. The contract developed needed to be flexible enough to deal with changes that would likely come about with the One Network Road Classification coming into effect. It also had to balance contractual requirements with shifting level of service delivery. GHD worked closely with CHBDC to develop the request for tender document, and a robust evaluation and negotiation process. The recommended and adopted procurement method was quality based with a pricing model that separated out profit and overhead payment. In a world where cheap is often considered the most desirable attribute, it was a bold move to move to 100 percent quality on a $4 million per annum maintenance contract. The full paper gives insight to the reasons behind this change, the process of procuring and negotiating with the successful contractor and how, in the qualitybased procurement process, CHBDC is satisfied that the competitive price received represents value for money. LG
AUTHOR PROFILES Tony Harrison is GHD Hastings manager. Carey Morris is transport manager, GHD Wellington. The authors would also like to acknowledge Shawn McKinley, land transport manager at Central Hawke’s Bay District Council. Sections of the full paper are the combined work of GHD and Shawn.
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www.localgovernmentmag.co.nz Go to our website for the full paper. Search: bit.ly/Is_Cheap_Real_Value
Represents New Zealand’s Civil and General Contracting Industry
Civil Contractors New Zealand offers opportunities to work with Local Government on:
• Procurement strategies and practices that support a healthy contracting industry; • How to monitor contractors’ health, safety and wellbeing processes; • Forward work programmes that provide continuity of work to retain and develop contractor capability; • Environmental and quality issues.
www.civilcontractors.co.nz
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JEREMY ELWOOD / ON THE FUNNY STUFF COM E DIAN, ACTOR AN D WR ITE R. jeremy@jeremyelwood.com
Local body Olympics A long shot?
W ICE A FEW OF WELLINGTON’S STREETS AND YOU’VE GOT YOURSELF A PERFECTLY PASSABLE BOBSLED TRACK.
ith the Rio Olympics just behind us, it’s time to look to the future, and start preparing New Zealand’s bid to host the global event sometime in the future. Obviously, there will be those who think we have no chance, that it would likely bankrupt us if we even tried, and that the amount of infrastructure we’d need to build makes even entertaining the idea of putting in a bid out of the realm of common sense or logic. Not true! I believe we have a shot at hosting the Games using what we already have, for a fraction of the budget that any host city has spent in recent memory. Firstly, we need to accept that we wouldn’t be able to host the games in any one city. However, if we use the whole country as a venue, then it starts to make a lot more sense. Let’s start by looking at the Winter Games. A bit smaller, a bit more manageable, and arguably there’s going to be less competition, seeing as the last few haven’t been roaring successes. Obviously, we can use our existing ski fields for many of the events, but after that we need to start thinking outside the box. By installing snow making machines in some of our larger towns, we can address the problem without the need to build nearly as many new venues. Just add a ramp to the bottom of Baldwin Street in Dunedin, and a giant net on the other side of North East Valley, and hey presto, an instant ski jump. Ice a few of Wellington’s streets such as on Seatoun Heights, and you’ve got yourself a perfectly passable bobsled and luge track. If we could figure out a way to freeze Lake Taupo temporarily, that takes care of all the ice skating disciplines. Tricky
to do, but we pride ourselves on innovation, right? If we really wanted to go for it, and bid for the Summer Olympics, then personally I think that’s attainable as well. Especially now that rugby is back in the games – so people here care about them at last. We’ve got stadiums all over the place, and seeing as they’re rarely used outside of the last weeks of Super Rugby, we can convert them to house any sport we like. Our water is cleaner for rowing than some recent hosts I could name, too. The athletes’ village? No problem, we’ll just ask everyone in Mission Bay and Mt Eden to go and stay at their baches for a month, I’m sure they won’t mind. Hotel accommodation for visitors might seem like an issue, but given the number of problems Rio had, far fewer people are going to be interested in going to the Olympics in the future anyway, so we should be all right. We can ask Peter Jackson to direct the opening ceremony, and James Cameron (who will no doubt still be living here, working on Avatar 12 or something anyway) to direct the closing one. We wouldn’t need the thousands of volunteers and dancers either; we can get Weta Digital to CGI all of that in for the TV broadcast. In fact, if we just made the top of Mount Ruapehu the Olympic Torch, we could do everything on there and not have a live audience involved at all, for “safety reasons”. This all might seem a little ambitious, but we’ve managed to host a Rugby and (part of) a Cricket World Cup recently, so it’s not that big a leap. Besides, those of us up here in Auckland might finally get that waterfront stadium we’ve been banging on about for so long. LG
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FRANA DIVICH / ON LEGAL ISSUES PARTN E R, H EAN EY & PARTN E R S, frana.divich@heaneypartners.com
Defective cladding Supreme Court gives green light to claim against CHH.
C THE HIGH COURT CONCLUDED THAT THE “LONG STOP” LIMITATION PROVISION IN THE BUILDING ACT 2004 DID NOT APPLY TO PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS AS IT WAS NOT “BUILDING WORK”.
arter Holt Harvey (CHH) has lost another battle in its war with the Ministry of Education over “leaky schools”. The decision paves the way for the claim to proceed to trial and clarifies what claims may be brought against cladding manufacturers by other affected building owners. CHH manufactures a cladding product called “Shadowclad”. The Ministry alleges that 900 school buildings are leaking because the cladding system is defective. It is suing CHH. On 29 July 2016 our highest appellant court, the Supreme Court, dismissed an appeal brought by CHH and allowed a cross appeal brought by the Ministry.1 CHH’s latest, entirely unsuccessful skirmish came after a loss in the High Court and a small success in the Court of Appeal.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR? Despite the large number of judgments this case has produced, the proceeding is still at a relatively early stage. CHH challenged the ability of the Ministry to bring some of the claims against it. It applied to the court to “strike out” those claims. There are five claims against CHH: • A claim in negligence in relation to the design, manufacture and supply of defective cladding; • Breach of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993; • Negligent misstatement in promotional material relating to the cladding; • Negligent failure to warn about the characteristics of the cladding; • Breach of the Fair Trading Act 1986. At first instance the High Court dismissed the application to strike out the claims and ruled that all the claims should go to trial. In doing so, the High Court concluded that the “long stop” limitation provision in the Building Act 2004 did not apply to product manufacturers as it was not “building work”.
1. Carter Holt Harvey Ltd v Minister of Education & Ors [2016] NZSC 95
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CHH appealed to the Court of Appeal. The appeal failed, except in relation to the negligent misstatement claim which the Court of Appeal struck out. The Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court that the “long stop” did not apply. The case then went to the Supreme Court. It was tasked with deciding whether the Court of Appeal was correct to decide: • The claims in negligence were arguable; • The claim for negligent misstatement was not arguable; and • The “long stop” did not apply. The five Supreme Court Justices unanimously decided that the claims in negligence and negligent misstatement were arguable and should be allowed to go to trial rather than be struck out. In relation to the “long stop” the Justices unanimously found that it did not apply to claims relating to defective building products and materials, which are not claims about “building work”. Interestingly CHH finds itself back in the same position it was in after the High Court judgment but somewhat lighter of pocket.
AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? The claim against CHH will now continue. Given the reality of the significant costs involved in this type of litigation it will probably settle before it gets to trial. Also waiting in the wings are two class actions by home and commercial owners against the cladding manufacturer James Hardie. Those owners were waiting to see what the Supreme Court decided about the viability of the various claims and limitation before proceeding further. James Hardie’s accounts show provision for US$32.4 million for weathertightness claims. The claims against James Hardie will also proceed now. Those claims are also likely to settle before trial due to the costs and risks associated with large scale multiple party litigation. LG
PETER SILCOCK / FROM CIVIL CONTRACTORS NZ CH I E F EXECUTIVE, CIVI L CONTRACTOR S N EW Z EALAN D. peter@civilcontractors.co.nz
Action on procurement What’s holding us back?
E THE RECENT LAUNCH OF THE NZQA CERTIFICATE IN INFRASTRUCTURE PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES IS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD.
veryone I talk to in the construction industry seems to think that by improving our infrastructure procurement we can save hundreds of millions of dollars of public money. Given the pressure on public funding of infrastructure, that sounds like a great opportunity. So what’s holding us back? Not surprisingly there seems to be agreement about the problem (at least at a high level) but getting agreement to the solution is a bit more challenging. Some say it’s about educating managers and practitioners; some say it’s about scale of contracts; others cite a lack of specialist expertise; some of our members say it is the absence of a common prequalification system… the list goes on. The reality is that there is no one magic bullet to improve our procurement processes but there are two simple actions that all procurers could take that would make an immediate impact. All procurers could firstly adopt and work according to the Government Procurement Guidelines and secondly could require anyone managing a procurement process to hold an appropriate qualification. The Five Principles of Government Procurement state that “good procurement is about making sound commercial decisions and making it easy and worthwhile for suppliers to sell to Government”. The five principles are: 1. Plan and manage for great results 2. Be fair to all suppliers 3. Get the right supplier 4. Get the best deal for everyone 5. Play by the rules. The principles are good practice and are applicable to any procurer not just government. A copy can be downloaded along with further information from www.business.govt.nz/ procurement. Councils and CCOs are different to other businesses in that they can’t relocate or switch core activities and therefore they need to have procurement policies that have a medium to long term view rather than just looking at the current job or work programme. That view should encompass the issue of maintaining supplier capability and capacity to ensure a healthy market and strong competition for the future.
Making it easy and worthwhile for people to sell to you requires an understanding of the market they operate in. For civil infrastructure there is no better way to do that than having regular meetings with the wider contracting industry represented through the local branch of Civil Contractors New Zealand. Meeting with contractors provides an opportunity for you to understand how busy the industry is, what other work may be coming up (both inside and outside of the area), what new technologies may offer and is an opportunity for you to share with the contracting industry information about your forward work programme. Given the scale of local government work this will be vital information to help guide your supplier’s decisions about investment in their people and plant. Understanding the contracting industry will better inform the decisions you need to make about things like the timing of tenders and work, the contract format, the level of risk and a mass of other factors that can impact on getting exactly what you want both in the tender box and at the end of the job. The recent launch of the NZQA Certificate in Infrastructure Procurement Procedures is a major step forward because it provides a practical tool to transform procurement capability. The new qualification is the key to boosting our procurement skills. It has been developed by a working group that has adapted NZTA’s proven formula for procurement qualifications, added the government procurement principle, rules and tools and combined this with innovations from the best in worldwide procurement. It would be great to see all councils making a commitment to developing their own procurement capacity and capability by actively supporting the new qualification. Transitioning towards requiring anyone managing a procurement process to hold an appropriate qualification and supporting procurement staff to get the qualification are the practical steps all councils can take today. Better infrastructure procurement is not just about the dollars, it is about the alignment of clients and contractors to build and maintain quality infrastructure that exceeds expectations. LG
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LAWRENCE YULE / FROM LGNZ PR ESI DE NT, LOCAL G OVE R N M E NT N EW Z EALAN D (LG NZ). lawrence.yule@hdc.govt.nz
Times they are a changing Local Government conference looks to the future
I ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND MANAGING SCARCER NATURAL RESOURCES WILL REQUIRE A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.
n July Local Government New Zealand held its annual conference which saw over 560 delegates from around the country gather, this time in Dunedin. It’s a big occasion in the sector’s year, a chance to get together and share knowledge and experience, hear from exciting international and local speakers on a range of subjects and from our national politicians. The theme of this year’s conference was place making. It was a great opportunity for LGNZ to launch two future focused pieces of work looking at how New Zealand will adapt and cope in a time of rapid social, cultural, economic and environmental change. As the owners and managers of over $120 billion worth of assets and infrastructure, local government is at the forefront of planning for how our communities will be in a position to thrive in the coming years. It is important the sector takes a lead in these key discussions. The first significant policy piece was the 2050 Challenge, a discussion document initiated by LGNZ’s Young Elected Members Committee designed to identify the major shifts taking place in New Zealand so we can better understand the implications for local and central government. Climate change, an aging population, new ways of working, ongoing urbanisation and growing inequality will have significant impacts on how councils and their communities operate. LGNZ will be asking for community input in developing strategies. We also launched LGNZ’s proposed changes to the resource management system. These changes are designed to address a range of important issues and prompt discussion about what system would best suit the country’s needs in the coming decades. Adapting to climate change and managing scarcer natural resources will require a different approach to resource management. Creating a system that highly values natural ecosystems and the importance of resilience in decision-making is at the heart of our proposed changes. The conference is also a chance to celebrate the outstanding work of councils through our EXCELLENCE Awards. This year we had 63
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entrants for the awards, across five categories. There were many high calibre entries in 2016 and judges had a big job selecting the winners. So a special mention to Hamilton City Council, Southland District Council, Auckland Council, New Plymouth District Council, Kawerau District Council and Matamata-Piako District Council, and Judges Choice winner Rotorua Lakes Council. Never far from the surface at the conference was the Local Government Act Amendment Bill. Much has been said and written about the Bill and the concerns we have as a sector were confirmed when a remit calling for “vigorous opposition” to aspects of it was passed by 97 percent of our members at our AGM during the conference. LGNZ is working to improve the Bill, especially the provisions which would allow the Local Government Commission to create Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) without seeking the agreement of councils or the community. Put simply, CCOs are quite common and as a sector we are not opposed to them but their creation is a matter for a council and their community. LGNZ will continue to advocate for improving the Bill and protecting local democracy. On a final note it was great to welcome Prime Minister John Key, Minister of Local Government Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga and Associate Minister of Local Government Louise Upston, and Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little to the conference. All reiterated the need for a collaborative approach between local and central government in managing the big issues New Zealand faces, although the difference in approach between New Zealand’s two main political parties on the nature of that relationship was noticeable. But while we have some different views on exactly how central and local government should work together, there is no doubt the relationship must be strong for New Zealand to thrive. To read more about the 2050 Challenge and the proposed changes to the resource management system visit www.lgnz.co.nz. LG
New policy for local government Remits voted on at the Local Government New Zealand AGM, held during the annual conference in Dunedin in July, have now become official policy and will be actioned by LGNZ. There was a strong focus on local democracy, community and health issues in this year’s remits. Work on some, including around freedom camping, community policing and the Local Government Act Amendment Bill, is now underway. Minimum standards for rental housing A remit proposed by the Porirua City Council and supported by New Zealand’s Metro councils asked that LGNZ engages with the Government on ways to strengthen the minimum standards for rental housing to ensure that all rental homes are warm, dry and healthy to live in. The councils say housing quality is an area of concern for many local authorities and improving quality should over time reduce pressure on social housing providers and contribute to better health and community outcomes. The remit was passed overwhelmingly with 93 per cent support.
Impact of dust on sealed roads Auckland and the northern councils of New Zealand have called for action to address the impacts on human health from dust on unsealed roads. The councils have called for a working party to investigate the impact of dust on human health. Dust emission from unsealed roads could be causing significant health issues for people who reside near these roads, and agreement on how dust is measured, what the health impacts are and recommended mitigation strategies is sought. The remit received very strong support with 85 per cent of votes in favour.
Preservation of earthquake prone public heritage buildings Creating a new fund to help councils preserve earthquake prone public heritage buildings has been called for by a number of provincial and metropolitan councils.
The remit proposed that LGNZ advocate to the Government to set up a fund to provide assistance to local communities to preserve their iconic heritage buildings. In many cases these buildings are expensive to preserve and run the risk of being lost if costs of preservation become too high to be borne locally. The remit received very strong support with 91 per cent in favour.
Relocation of government services to regional centres A number of New Zealand’s regional and metropolitan councils want to explore the potential benefits to regional New Zealand of relocating more government services in the regions. The councils also asked that the Government look at ways to increase the ability for more civil servants to work remotely from regions outside Wellington. The councils say the gradual shift of government offices away from rural and provincial centres meant some communities have lost their biggest employers. The remit was passed with support of 73 per cent of votes.
Beverage container deposit system Palmerston North City Council supported by New Zealand’s Metro councils proposed a national-mandated beverage container deposit system, and requested that the Government requires industry to develop and implement this within a two-year period. It is the view of the Palmerston North City Council that the development of a mandatory product stewardship scheme would reduce the environmental impact of these products. The remit was passed with 90 per cent of the members in favour.
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EDITOR
Post-election inductions The EquiP team is busy preparing for the 2016 series of elected members, mayors and community board induction programmes. The programme is very different from previous years and sets the scene for the development required to assist in elected representative success. The tools that elected representatives need to know to operate in their first few months in office will be initially provided via a digital module and the updated 2016 GROW handbook. The subsequent workshop programme will then build the interaction and supportive networks needed, and start the collaborative governance and leadership thinking required for successful community outcomes. EquiP will offer a full developmental programme of support over the next triennium that will deliver transferable learning outcomes to further build a capable sector. Induction participants will identify their learning needs and plot their development solutions over the elected term. An initial series of webinars will be the first set of activities to continue this development journey, with many of your favourite workshops to follow.
< EquiP will offer a full developmental programme of support over the next triennium that will deliver transferable learning outcomes to further build a capable sector. > Community Board Induction A new inclusion in the 2016 programme is a series of regional induction workshops for community board members. These will introduce community board members to their local government role, their key support networks, and start the development journey towards being an effective community representative. This programme will reference the Good Practice Guide for Community Boards booklet currently being produced by LGNZ, and which will be available prior to the election via download from the LGNZ website. The community board induction workshops are half-day events. They will be delivered at most of the 2016 Elected Members Induction workshop locations, which enables the option of participation in the morning session of that programme to build sector relationships and knowledge of all roles. Community Board Induction workshop delivery is dependent on minimum numbers, so please check our website for details and register your interest now.
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Visit LGNZ.co.nz prior to the election. Download Good Practice for Community Boards.
Good Practice Guide for Community Boards
EquiP Procurement Review Procurement reviews are a powerful tool offered by EquiP, providing councils with real insight into their procurement processes and designed to promote and create efficiencies, ultimately reducing costs that can then be invested in other projects and initiatives. EquiP's work also extends to genuine opportunities for infrastructure savings. EquiP recently completed a review of New Plymouth District Council's professional services contract and, using a uniquely tailored contract model, enabled the council to save around $1.2 million out of a $5 million three-year contract without any drop in their level of service. EquiP used principal associate Chris Olsen to lead this review, as he has been at the forefront of infrastructure procurement since the 1990s. Mr Olsen produced a tender document for New Plymouth DC that covered the professional services required to inspect, assess, design, contract, manage and project manage their structures, roading, traffic and transportation, 3 waters, solid waste and building projects over the next three years. Mr Olsen then went onto help them select the best consultant for carrying out this work. Mr Olsen explains that a key learning he took from the experience was that "it is still possible to make significant savings in the professional services area while improving the quality of outcomes by using some of the newer types of contract models". Chris, how did you undertake this assignment? 1. Ran a workshop with key staff at New Plymouth DC to determine: > the best contract type for their circumstances;
David Langford, infrastructure manager for New Plymouth District Council, was left highly satisfied with the service that Chris Olsen provided. "[Olsen] facilitated our initial workshops really well and guided us through a number of issues that progressively honed in on what we wanted to achieve with our new contract, and then identified the possible solutions that could deliver these outcomes." "What I really like about Chris’ approach is that he doesn’t come in with a preconceived idea on what the solution is. Instead, he facilitates good, thought-provoking discussion that allows you to come to the answer yourself," Mr Langford says. In regard to the contract itself, this has got off to a promising start. As Mr Langford explains, "the rates we received from the tender process offered a significant saving compared to our previous contract. Whilst it is still early days, it looks like the contract is going to produce further savings through a gain share."
David, were there any non-financial benefits as a result of the review? 1. With the collocation of our staff with the supplier, we are getting better quality project briefs drawn up.
> whether an expression of interest (EOI), request for tender (RFT) or request for proposal (RFP) was the best process to pursue; and
2. Communication surrounding issues is better facilitated with the early warning and risk reduction processes.
> the best tender evaluation strategy for them.
3. We have found opportunities to second New Plymouth DC staff into the supplier's team so that we can minimise the project cost and develop our own people at the same time.
2. Provided commercial and procurement advice throughout to ensure an optimal result. 3. Together with New Plymouth DC, developed a unique contract model not used in New Zealand before. 4. Assisted with the interactive briefing to suppliers on the new model.
For more information on EquiP's Procurement Review Service, please contact EquiP@lgnz.co.nz.
5. Sat as an independent on the tender evaluation panel and drafted the report recommending the preferred consultant and why.
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The Final Word The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill contains some good provisions. However these are far outweighed by the negative, which if enacted could threaten local democracy. Current proposals to reform the Local Government Act will remove decision-making power from local authorities and threaten the ongoing sustainability of some councils if enacted. Submissions on the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill closed on July 28. The aim of the Bill is to “improve service delivery and infrastructure provision arrangements at the local government level”. In its submission to the Local Government and Environment Select Committee, LGNZ points out some changes proposed in the Bill would undermine local democracy by diminishing the decision-making ability of locally elected representatives – and as such reduce the ability of communities to have their say on important local and regional matters. While there are a number of provisions in the Bill that LGNZ supports these do not diminish the broader concerns. Of greatest concern are moves to give the Local Government Commission the power to create Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) without seeking the agreement of councils or communities. CCOs can be a useful addition to a council structure. But their creation is a matter for a council and community, not something to be handed down without proper discussion. As LGNZ President Lawrence Yule says, “if the Commission is going to be given the power to do this directly and come in and create a CCO to manage a community’s assets without a council’s agreement or a community poll, then we do not regard that as democratic.” “We are not against CCOs, we are against their creation without council and community input.”
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The key principle of good local government is that councils exist to allow citizens to make collective decisions about local and regional matters. True local democracy occurs when democratically elected bodies have well defined discretionary powers to provide services to their citizens and finance them with local taxes set by elected representatives. For New Zealand’s communities to flourish LGNZ believes it is important that any legislative change achieves the following: 1. promotes transparent decision making; 2. strengthens the decision-making capacity of elected members; 3. results in clear and unambiguous accountability; 4. recognises the constitutional role of local government; and 5. promotes allocative efficiency. Some provisions in the Bill, including that around CCOs, fail to promote these principles. It is important that decision makers should be able to be held accountable for their decisions. This enables citizens and consumers to exercise both voice and to exit an arrangement if they are unhappy with the outcomes of those decisions. Local government needs the policy and decision-making freedom to represent interests and needs of their communities. The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill, as it stands, runs the risk of excluding communities from making important decisions about local and regional matters. To read the LGNZ submission on the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill visit http://www.lgnz.co.nz/home/our-work/ submissions/lgnz-draft-submission-lga-2002-amendment-bill-no2/
CONTRAFED
THE VOICE OF NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRY
SKATING ON THIN ICE?
RISK & INSURANCE
Social media meets the Public Records Act p30
Can councils work together? p20
IMPROVE YOUR INTRANET NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
Three councils share their stories p34
RAIN RADAR
VOL 53 • AUGUST 2016 • $8.95
PUBLISHING CO. LTD
NEXT GENERATION COUNCILS Five local authorities to watch p24
NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE VOL 53 • JULY 2016 • $8.95
Estimating the size of flood events p40
A SHORE THING The power of plants p26
NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE VOL 53 • MAY 2016 • $8.95
2016 LGNZ EXCELLENCE AWARDS p16
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6
NEW ZEALAND’S CIVIL CONTRACTING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
SOLGM’S 2016 AWARDS
FREEDOM CAMPING
Celebrating professional excellence p28
Who should pick up the bill? p30
7
GO DISRUPT
3
4
7
Become your council's digital hero p12
SMART MOVES
Web & digital to the rescue p14
Kerry Prendergast: Outstanding Contribution to Local Government
How to create lovable places p20
Water sensitive design p34
2
BEST
TECHNICAL BRIEFINGS
1
S implythe
PETER KAGEYAMA
Why ongoing learning matters p16
IS
VOL 53 • JUNE 2016 • $8.95
MAGIC OR MADNESS? Christchurch City’s mega model p41
HASTINGS DC’S ROSS MCLEOD
AUGUST 2016 $8.95
Alex Gelbak, Seamless
ROAD CONTRACT COLLABORATION Four councils share their learnings p18
ALGA’S TROY PICKARD Local government in Australia p24
SPECIAL FEATURE The future of spatial technology p32
TECHNICAL BRIEFINGS Stormwater: Maitai River p36
driving growth at Hirepool
What’s the best model for local government? p12
water
NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING
JULY / AUGUST 2016 l ISSUE 195
Volume 13 - No 4 | August - September 2016 | $8.95
Customer demand
BETTER ?
Geared for growth Two new Hyundai loaders go to work in the Chatham Islands
Building resilience Quarrying unique schist
Catering to Otago’s booming building trade
Stormwater conference Utilities of the future Gaining trade waste traction Safety strike for drones
Demystifying quarrying CPD
INSIDE:
A guide to Professional Development requirements
A tomorrow’s leader – Hugh Johnstone Waikanae – a very very long bridge Havelock Nth relieved – a sewer in the making Buying low-cost steel – a wise guide
Highlights of the AQA/ IoQ conference in Blenheim
VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.localgovernmentmag.co.nz
QuarryNZ 2016 in pictures
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2016 SOLGM Annual Summit 21 – 23 September 2016
Inspiring Leadership Insightful Leaders, Impressive Communities
The SOLGM Annual Summit is the annual ‘must attend’ event for local government professionals and provides delegates with the opportunity to explore emerging trends and discuss with their will explore the theme of “Inspiring Leadership” and, following on from the success of the interactive programme includes facilitated discussions allowing
More information on the programme and presenters can be found in the Summit website SOLGM2016.co.nz.
Lyn Provost, Monica Barone, Controller and Auditor- Chief Executive, General of New Zealand City of Sydney and and Women in Local
Phil O’Reilly, Chief Executive of public policy and business Partners and Summit